Guardian
by jenniemae2013
Summary: Vampires and werewolves exist. Who's to say that there can't be anything else out there?" Kim has always been a wallflower, an outsider, invisible. But whats if it's all a disguise? A way to hide what she truly is?
1. Prologue

**Hi guys! Hope your holidays were good. Sorry I haven't been around. For all of you waiting for an AFKOL update, no worries. I'm almost done with the next chapter. Here's a new fic that I had to get down. Hope you guys like it! Please R&R. I love hearing what ya'll have to say...**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie. Stop making me have to remind myself. **

**Prologue**

I came to very slowly. As I peered up from my position on the cold stone floor, I took in the sight of Rachel slumped over directly in front of me. To my immediate left, Emily seemed half alert, clinging desperately to a squalling Claire. I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, only to cough painfully as my lungs were assaulted by the dank room's thick, musty air. Aside from a lone lamp residing in one of the room's corners, there was no light, and the light the lamp was emitting was nothing if not dim. What appeared to be one-way mirrors were mounted in each of the four walls, leading me to believe that we were basically in a box. I felt like a caged mouse, and wondered briefly if our captors would be experimenting on us as well.

My mind wandered to the time, and the date, and the fact that I had no idea exactly how long we'd been here.

"Kim?" Emily was looking at me, obviously confused, and almost in what appeared to be a trance-like state.

"Yeah, Em. It's me. It's Kim. Are you okay?"

"I…I think so." I listened as she made shushing noises at Claire, but to no avail. My eyes drifted back to Rachel as I sat up, leaning against the hard wall for support. She looked awful. I was well aware that out of the four of us, Rachel would be the one to put up the hardest fight. Emily would've been too concerned about Claire, and I had already known that this would happen, and that there was nothing that could be done to avoid it. But Rachel was, well, Rachel. Ray had always been temperamental. She was Paul's imprint, after all. It's not like she could be anything but bullheaded. Her left eye was swollen, and she had bruises on her wrists from the manacles restraining her arms. She looked unconscious, but the steady rise and fall of her chest gave me some relief in the knowledge that at least she was alive.

I closed my eyes, a sudden wave of exhaustion slamming into me. My throat stung with every breath that I took, but I tried to tell myself that it could be worse, and I opened my eyes narrowly to catch another glimpse at Ray. I heard no more whimpering from Claire, and I deduced that she must have fallen asleep. I turned my head toward Emily once again, hoping that she was aware enough to talk. Seeing her eyes darting back and forth around the room, I angled my body towards her, and called out her name. She looked up at me, and the fear in her heart was evident on her face.

"I'm scared, Kim. I…what are we going to do? What do they want with us? Why are we here? Where are we?" She was becoming frantic, and I was surprised that she was the one becoming hysterical, but I knew that without the previous information I had acquired from my grandmother, I would be, too.

"I don't know, Em. I honestly don't know. But we're okay. And we're together. That has to count for something, right? No worries. We'll make it out of here just fine." This seemed to appease her a bit, and I felt extremely guilty that I could not be honest with her and fully erase her fears. She had no idea what I was or that I knew this was coming. There was only one person who did, and she was dead. Dead and gone. But I refused to think about any of that now. I focused what strength I had on making sure the other three were in good condition, or in as good a condition that was possible for the circumstances. "Is Claire okay?"

"Yeah. She seems fine at the moment. She's just scared like the rest of us. At least she's in better physical condition than we are. If I could just keep her quiet then we'll be in good shape."

"Did you notice the mirrors?" I said, as quietly as I possibly could. "I think they may be watching us." I knew for a fact they were.

She sat up, crossing her legs and placing Claire's head on her thigh as she looked around the room, quickly taking in the surroundings. "Yeah. That's probably the only thing we can be sure of." I noticed her breathing had calmed down a bit, a sign that the initial shock she'd experienced was wearing off. "Who do you think they are?"

"I don't know." This was definitely a lie. I knew exactly who they were. And they were probably the only group of people who would want anything with the four of us anyway. "But what I do know is that the reason we're here is definitely obvious. At least Nessie's out of the country." Not for long. Alice would have the Cullens here very soon. Of that, I was also certain.

"I suppose. I'm glad she isn't in this predicament, but it would definitely be helpful to have her…talents…here, I suppose." Oh, if she only knew. I fought the urge to divulge my secret right then and there, but I knew that the only thing I had on my side other than secrecy was my element of surprise, and I couldn't risk that, no matter how much I wanted to.

"What do you think we should do?" I asked. I had to make her seem like she was the one in charge of us so I could draw any suspicions away from myself.

"I guess all we can do is wait. That and be prepared for whatever methods they use to get what they want from us." She shuddered at the thought of the "methods" they had in store for us.

As soon as the words left her mouth, a door we had failed to notice opened up directly to Rachel's right. A hooded figure glided swiftly into the room, followed by what appeared to be two children. "Hello, ladies." One of the children gave Rachel's leg a swift kick, and she woke with a start, moaning in pain.

The man lowered the hood of his cloak. I was a bit taken aback as I peered into his eyes and saw no malice there. He seemed…curious…as he glanced around the room at all of us. "It is likely that you are wondering why you have been brought here. All will be revealed in time, but first please allow me to introduce myself." He was being far too cordial for someone who had captured four young girls, one of whom was only a toddler.

"My name is Aro. I wanted to be the first person to welcome you to Alaska."

This was going to get interesting.


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's another chapter...enjoy! Oh! And please...R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer, and I do not own the Twilight series. **

It was raining as I locked the front door and sprinted to my Jeep. I paused for a moment in the saturated grass to admire the fresh black coat of paint that had been a seventeenth birthday gift from my older brother. As a fat water droplet fell from the hood of my raincoat onto my eyelashes, I hurriedly dug through my purse in search of my keys. I rushed to unlock the door, hopping in quickly and shrugging off my wet coat, throwing it in the back seat. I sped off the curb towards LPHS, setting the speed of my windshield wipers to high. I hummed along to the radio, tapping the steering wheel with the fingers of the hand I wasn't using to drive. Over the ten minutes it took me to drive from my house to the school, my mind wandered to trivial things, like whether or not I remembered to unplug the toaster, and if I had picked up my English textbook from the coffee table in the den. My thoughts settled on a certain boy as I parked and made my way into English lit.

Jared. Jared Talon. Oh, be still my heart! I laughed to myself as the conversation responsible for spawning that phrase popped into my head. Lindsay, my best friend, had seen the doodles in my notebook that basically joined me and pretty boy in the bonds of holy matrimony. We had been at the ice cream place near First Beach having a serious study session for an upcoming test on archetypes and "The Allegory of the Cave" when she ripped the notebook out of my hands and turned back to one of the pages I had hurriedly flipped past in attempt to hide its contents. She had jumped up and shoved it right under my nose, making a huge scene, granted, there were only three other people in there besides us, and one of them was running the shop. "What's this, Kimmy-kins?"

God I hated that nickname. "Shut the freak up, Linds! Jesus!" She laughed, and shouted out "Aww! Kimmy Jay has a crush! Oh, be still my heart!" I don't think I'd ever blushed so furiously in my entire life.

As I reached the second floor of the building and turned into the senior English room, I quickly glanced around at my classmates, noticing the object of my affection already seated at the table we shared. I just realized how much of a sap that makes me sound like. "At the table we shared." Geez. I need to get a grip. But then again, I don't think it's really all that changeable. I mean, it's not my fault that I gravitate toward him like a magnet. I am his future imprint, after all.

I sat down in my seat about five minutes before class started, pulling out my worn copy of "Huck Finn" and turning to the dog ear, picking up where I left off from last night. As soon as my eyes hit the page, I felt a tap on my right shoulder, and turned swiftly to see Paul Stone scowling down at me. "Yeah?" He didn't respond, and just kept on looking at me like he was going to eat me. "Umm, can I help you with something?" I prodded, hoping to trigger some kind of gesture or response or something. It kind of did the trick, and he jerked his head back as if he was telling me to get up. "I don't know the appropriate response to seizing, Paul." I heard a snort behind me as the grimace on Paul's face grew, if that was even possible.

"Leave Kim alone, Paul." He…he knew my name. When did this happen?!

"I just wanted to sit down, Talon. Geez."

"You could've just asked, Stone! Instead of being such an ass!"

"What did you just call me? An ass? I'll show you ass!" I was a bit concerned as I watched Jared try and lunge at Paul, but one of their other friends hopped in between them like it was almost second nature: like he had to do it quite often. I expected this kind of behavior from Paul, because he'd always had a gargantuan temper. But for Jared, who was normally very docile and quiet, to be so snappy…I guess this could only mean one thing: their transformations were nearing. This could only mean one thing as well.

Imprinting.

This was one of the events in my life that my grandmother had chosen to give me very little details about, along with the night in Alaska that will change everything for our kind, but more on that later. She had told me as many chances as she got that life without surprises was rarely any fun. And she should know. What with being a watcher and everything. That was her talent, her special gift, as she liked to call it. She said she credited it with bringing her and my late grandfather together. But I like to think it was fate. That's what I try to tell myself about the future relationship I'm going to have with Jared. I'd like to think that even in a world where such supernatural happenings don't exist, we would be brought together.

But anyhoo…I'm extremely anxious about the day he comes back to school. And not a really good kind of anxious, either. An anxious where I'm nervous and excited and scared and nervous some more an feel like I'm going to vomit and scream with joy and anguish all at the same time. Let's just say that knowing your soul mate is right in the room at some point every school year for three years is a bit nerve wrecking, albeit comforting. At least I know I won't end up like my seventy two year old great aunt Minoa, who constantly smells like a litter box even though she has no cats, and has like 312 turtles, all of whom are either named Tiger or Muffy depending on if whether she thinks it's Sunday or Thursday since she's senile and doesn't have the brain capacity to even remember her own name. She also sits on her porch wielding a slingshot and a pair of darning needles, randomly going out in her yard to cut the grass with a pair of scissors and threaten the neighbors' children. I am very glad to report that she lives in Oregon, as I couldn't afford any further hindrance to what little stance in La Push High society that I have.

Speaking of, I continued to think about Jared standing up for me today in English throughout the rest of the day. I was basically a nobody. If I didn't have to blend in and not draw attention to myself, this may not be the case, but it was, because I am sworn to secrecy. Rambling. Sorry. Onward! I am low on the totem pole at this school. And he, well if this was England he'd almost be a king. Paul is the king, mostly because people are terrified of him. Jared is the really hot younger brother of the king, and every maiden, gorgeous and not so appealing alike, in this whole not-so-vast kingdom, would give anything to add the bed, subtract the clothes, divide the legs, and multiply with him. Including me. And I am not ashamed, because at least I'm going to be made an honest woman by the king's hot younger brother. The thing I don't get is that he's never talked to me before, other than when he needs a pencil or forgot to do the homework and I'm the school genius who always does it and is too shy to deny him the right to copy hers.

As the bell rang signaling the end of the day, I decided to blame it on the fact that he is about to transform, and can't control his temper. Or he needs an outlet for it or something. I then proceeded to feel stupid for thinking about it all day. As I pulled in the driveway, I noticed that my brother was home. I was a bit surprised, seeing as how everyday for the past month that he'd been married he'd been too busy freaking his new wife between meals and work to come and visit. And I would bring it up to him, too. As long as my parents weren't around. Man would that be awkward.

I walked into the house, slinging my book bag onto the couch as a passed through the living room, and saw him sitting at the table looking at some papers. "Oh Danny boy, the pipes the pipes are calling," I sang. Ever since I had first heard the song "Londonderry Air," I couldn't stop teasing Daniel.

"What up, squirt?"

"Not much, I see you've finally decided to come out of your rabbit hole and stop humping Tess like a bunny."

"Kimberly Jenae!" Shit. Too bad I didn't notice mom in the pantry. Danny just laughed as my face fell.

"Sorry mom. I just missed him is all."

"Mmhmm. Like I believe that."

I shrugged. I've learned that the best way to deal with situations such as this is to be nonchalant. It makes you seem like you didn't mean to sound so vulgar. Maybe this isn't true, or maybe it makes no sense, but it works on my parents, so I stick by it.

"What's on the papers, Danny boy?"

"Nothing important." Funny. They looked important. They had to be. The Office of the Tribal Council didn't allow unimportant stuff to be printed on their oh-so-expensive personalized stationary from the Staples in Seattle.

"Let me see it."

"No. It isn't for you."

"So? Let me see it. You know if it's got to do with the tribe, I should see it. And you also know that if you don't let me see it, I'll just take it from you."

"I'm still not giving it to you."

"Fine." I twitched my fingers toward the papers, sending a rush of adrenaline from my brain through my arm, and they flew effortlessly into my hand.

"I really hate you sometimes, you know that squirt."

"I know, Danny boy. I know." I looked down at the papers, reading something about a treasurer's report. Crap.

"There's nothing here."

"I tried to tell you." He was smirking at me. I hate these moments. The ones where he gets to smirk at me like that because I'm in the wrong.

"Stupid new treasurer of the council." I muttered, heading towards the stairs and sticking out my arm, summoning my book bag as I began trudging up the stairs to my room. "Gets a degree in math and thinks he can come here and rule the house. Like he hasn't even been gone for a whole freaking month." He was still laughing as I slammed the door to my room.

I collapsed on the bed, still a bit perturbed, as I pulled out my books to begin my homework.

**R&R!!!**


	3. Chapter 2

**So...after a long wait, here's chapter 3!! By the way...PLEASE review! Please! I love hearing from you guys and I really need some inspiration. Also, for all you AFKOL readers, I'm sorry about all the non-updating. I have hit a mental block in the story. I know where I want it to go, I just don't know how to get there. But you should have an update by the end of the week, hopefully. Sorry for the long a/n!!! :-) Read on! (and REVIEW!!!)**

**Disclaimer: I ain't Stephenie. Back off.**

"_We Quileute people are an old tribe, descendants of the great wolf warrior Taha Aki himself. We still live our lives based on the lessons our legends taught. The waters off the shores of First Beach are still used frequently by local fishermen and for holding the traditional bonfires, along with the old birth, wedding, and funeral ceremonies. Our tribe has dwindled down, but we have kept to our roots as much as possible in this modern world."_

I can't think of anything I loved more as a child than listening to my grandmother recount the stories of our heritage as I drifted off to sleep at night. Her skills rivaled those of even Old Quil Ateara, the Quileute chief, who would often speak at the rare tribal bonfires that were open to the community and not just the group of elders.

I suppose the reason why I loved my grandmother's stories so much is because she would tell me the stories that no one else- not even the elders- were allowed to know about; the "legends" of my ancestors. Or, more specifically, of my female ancestors.

But she was gone now. Dead and gone.

I felt a wave of hatred crash around me as I watched a sea of people clad in black litter my house, making inane chatter and nibbling the refreshments some of my mother's friends had bought over, and acting as if they knew who my grandma was. Some may have known her, may have even been a close friend to her, but they didn't really know who she was. Not really. At least, not like I did.

I surprised myself with the intensity of my bitterness, at how disturbed I was that I was going to be completely alone now. Not really alone, but as the only survivor of my kind. I was terrified that she would no longer be able to guide me, that I was going to have to bear this burden alone.

I'd been angry at her at first, angry that she hadn't given me any warning, which I was well aware that she would have had the capability to do. She had to have known. She had to have seen it. She saw everything.

"Hi. Kimberly, right?" I was suddenly broken out of my reverie by a vaguely familiar male voice. I jerked my head up and moved my feet down a step, uncurling from the ball I had shriveled into. I'm sure I looked quite a mess, sitting halfway up the steps, still in the rumpled clothes I had worn the previous day.

"Yeah, I am." Embry Call stood in the foyer, appearing to have just walked in the door with his mother, who had no doubt been the one to encourage him to talk to me.

"Well…" He was struggling to come up with something to say. We'd never talked before, and I knew that probably had something to do with the fact that I'm basically invisible at school. He's also two years behind me.

"I'm sorry for you lo-"

"Thank-you." I didn't even want to talk to him much less about THAT.

"Oh. Um… I'm Embry Ca-"

"Call. I know." We fell into an awkward silence as I stared at my feet and he kept searching for something interesting to look at on the wall to my right.

The door opened and my head jerked up yet again. Embry turned, stepping over to make room for the newly arrived visitor, but his body froze mid-stride as he saw who was entering.

Sam Uley.

About a month ago, he had disappeared, and a lot of rumors had began circling throughout the community. This was only his second public appearance that I knew of, aside from his venture to the general store to buy bigger clothes after his very obvious growth spurt. That had sent even more rumors flying.

I probably should have pretended to give a shit that Sam was there. But I didn't much feel like it. To be honest, I didn't feel like doing anything aside from sitting in my room, wallowing in my own self-pity, imploding random objects in on themselves- a hobby of mine that I often employed when grief, misery, or anger was afoot. I scanned the living and dining room, or what I could see of them from where I sat, and saw every head turned in his direction. Subtlety was obviously not a well practiced characteristic in this small town, and if it hadn't been for the fact that my grandmother's corpse had just been dumped six feet under, I may have laughed at their inability to closet their curiosity.

He was uncomfortable. Definitely uncomfortable. You would have had to been blind not to be able to see that. And nervous. He looked nervous as hell. I felt kind of sorry for him. It wasn't fun being an outcast. I knew because I was one too; I could relate. Since I felt kind of sympathetic towards him, and since I knew Emily would one day be my closest friend, I decided to both put myself out of Sam's misery, and do her a favor all at the same time. So I did a kind of bounce/sulk thing down the remaining five stairs, brushed past Embry, and cleared my throat, trying to get his attention and get rid of all the nosy onlookers all at the same time.

"Thanks for coming." I could tell that this surprised him. After all, we'd never spoken before, and everyone else was avoiding him like a venereal disease. He also looked a little relieved that at least someone wasn't scared of him to the point of cowering away from his presence.

"Y…you're welcome?" It came out as more of a question than anything. He looked over my shoulder, glancing briefly at Embry, then his eyes drifted into the living room, where his scorned (ex?) girlfriend sat with her family. She completely snubbed him, and he looked like he'd just been crushed. Her dad, Harry Clearwater, looked like he would literally do just that.

But everyone was here to 'remember' my grandmother, so the emotional crisis was thus averted, at least for the rest of the day.

The remainder of the visitation thing was basically monotonous, with the same scene of "I'm sorry for your loss," "thanks for coming," "she was such a nice person," "how's so and so doing," "I saw the cutest bath rugs in the Sears Catalog yesterday" replaying in front of me, hour after hour, making me want to saw off the top of my head and pour some Mr. Clean in there.

I wandered back up the stairs around ten- thirty, and collapsed on my bed. I twisted awkwardly, trying to reach under my bed for the journal I had written almost every vision my grandmother had shared with me since the age of seven in. I turned to the most recent page, to vision that stood out most distinctively in my mind, scanning the date and then, letting my eyes drift down to the first line, began to read the words that had practically burned themselves into my brain.

"_There is a small cellar under an old rustic cabin in the forests of the Alaskan wilderness. It is pitch black: so dark that if you waved your hand more than an inch away from your face you would not be able to see it. It is dank and musty, and the stone foundation is rough and cold. The four of you have been there for days, and the other three are clueless and scared. You will already know the outcome. You will know that a deal is to be made, and you know that you will have to make your captors think you are sacrificing yourself; that you are giving in. You will be beaten down and weary from both the mental and physical torture you have been through. Everyone will be watching, held back from reaching you because of another's special gift. All will be affected by the scene, but one more than the rest. He'll be sobbing, but you'll have to ignore his cries, the cries that are cutting your heart to pieces, because you'll know that he has no idea who you are or what you are capable of. You are a Guardian, and this is what you were made for. This is what you were born to do." _

This vision of hers, this premonition, to be quite frank, scared the shit out of me. This daunting occurrence, set who knows how much further into the future, was certain. It was certain. No longer would our kind be able to hide in the shadows. At least, not from others of the supernatural kind. And it was all on me. All on me to do all by myself. Today, amidst the morbidity of black suits and mindless, pointless chatter, I was so angry at her. But now, reading this journal, I missed her so much that it made me physically sick. I didn't want to do this alone. Sure my parents knew and my brother knew, but what could they do? No one could be told, no one could be sought out for help. This huge secret was all on me, and it was overwhelming.

I know how this makes me sound, because I know how feeling like this makes me sound to myself. I feel like I'm being…selfish. She's gone and all I can think of is me, and my problems and my worries and my sorrows. I hadn't even spoken to my mother since grandma died. Not a word.

But I couldn't bring myself to walk down the steps.

**So there you have it! I know it's kind of morbid. This isn't exactly how I wanted it to come out but it was the best of 3 drafts so...okay! Next chapter is almost done! Read and review please! Please?!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Wow! Two updates this week! I've officially surprised myself. This chapter is going to sound like a filler, but I think it's important to character development. And people...over 200 hits and only 8 reviews?! I didn't want to have to beg, but I will! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! PLEASE!!! please? :-) So anyhoo... R&R. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. If I was, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfiction for...free! **

Walking through the halls of the Quileute Tribal School had never been too wonderful of an experience. Today was not going to be an exception. As it turns out, having your best friend groveling behind you as you make your way to the section of the school reserved for the older kids, affectionately deemed LPHS, is quite annoying.

"I'm SO sorry that I wasn't in town for your grandmother's funeral, Kim. I would've been there if there was any possible way for me to get back home."

"Why on earth would I be mad at you Lindsay? You we're visiting your sick grandpa." I had told her this same exact thing at least six times and in four different ways. And yet she still continued her little siege on my sanity. Thankfully, we had to part ways for first period, and I probably would have been elated if it hadn't been for the bundle of nerves that assaulted my stomach as soon as I walked in the door.

This was nothing new. It had been happening ever since my grandmother relayed her vision to me about my true love, because it was just so wonderful and she was just so happy for me that she couldn't keep it to herself. Never mind that I was in the fourth grade when she told me, and just a simple girl still learning simple grammar and how to use her not-so-simple-gift to lift a simple jar of cookies off the top shelf in the kitchen-simply.

Sometimes I really wish she would have kept that particular occurrence to herself. Not that I minded that I was the 'imprintee' of a sensitive, hot, smart, hot, did I mention hot?, HOT…

Ahem.

I was mentally debating on ways to get him to move from my spot when the wonderful (insert sarcasm) Mrs. Arroyo called me over to her desk.

"Kimberly!" Oh, how I loved to be called Kimberly.

"I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed proofreading that scholarship essay. Those metaphors were very elegantly composed."

"Thanks, Mrs. A."

"You're welcome, dear. If only your classroom journal entries could be so well thought out…"

She trailed off, and, taking that as my cue to leave, because I didn't want to tell her the real reason my journal entries sucked, I moseyed back over to my desk as she called the class to order.

As long as I sat next to Jared Dakota Talon, any and all work that had to be completed during class would lack significantly in the proficiency department.

The period went by surprisingly fast. Too fast for my liking, but third period would come soon enough, I told myself. Linds met me in the hall outside of my classroom, and I was amazed that she had been able to make it there from Chemistry so quickly.

"Kim!" Oh God, she was waving her arms. Like I couldn't see her. How could I not? She had insisted on buying that hideous, eye-burning, neon green polyester raincoat she was now clad in during our last outing to Port Angeles. I rushed over to her, jerking her arm down before she could mortify me to the point of the color of my cheeks not being a color appropriate for even the Crayola 150 count Telescoping Crayon Tower. Kind of like the color of her raincoat.

"Do you have any idea how strange these people think we ALREADY are?"

"Jeez, Kim. Pissy much?"

"Sorry, it's just…nothing." Not only was it mortifying, but attention wasn't something that I often welcomed. You know, because of my 'condition.'

"Okay, so, change of subject, how was lover boy today?"

"Lindsay Elizabeth Acres! I can't believe you just said that!"

"What?! Holy crap, are you PMSing or something?" She started laughing.

"Remind me why we're friends again…"

"BEST friends, and it's because our souls have been drawn together by the cosmos, meant to be as one for the rest of our sentient lives." I couldn't contain the laughter that bubbled up from my chest.

"Have you always been this weird?"

"You tell me. You've known me my whole life." She was trying to seem offended, but I knew better.

"Go ahead and laugh. You know you want to." She gave me one of her signature side glances, and started giggling.

"If I'm weird, what does that make you?"

"The kind-hearted nerdy girl who feels sorry for the stargazing schizo." We started laughing harder.

"The 'cheer up emo kid' is staring at you again, Lizard." That sobered her up pretty quickly.

"Ugh. You know something's wrong with you when the only penis you can attract is attached to a crack-selling bozo who has twenty thousand pimples from the unsuccessful trials of steroids he thinks are working. And stop laughing, Kimberly! It isn't funny!"

"Actually, it is." I was still laughing, and she was still scowling as we walked through the door to pre-calculus.

Ah, the joys of math. I'm pretty sure I was the only person aside from Gerald Atner who didn't travel to la-la land during this class.

Ah, Gerald Atner. My academic nemesis. The bane of my existence. The one area of my life that I was allowed to shine in and he had to go and ruin it by challenging me.

Don't get me wrong, I like a little not-so-friendly competition now and then, but he was just downright vexatious. Yes, it's a word. Look it up.

Ever since the ripe old age of five, this kid and I have been constantly trying to one up each other. I, of course, usually came out on top. Other than the fourth and seventh grade spelling bees, the Mathletes tri-county scrimmage before regionals, and the final exam for advanced biology, he'd gotten schooled. And I'd say that's pretty damn good to have gone to school with him for twelve and a half years.

"Kimberly." Speak of the devil, and he shall stalk over to your desk and leer at you through his color-contacts.

"Gerald." He continued to stare at me with those beady eyes of his. And then his girlfriend, who sits beside of me, by the way, put in her two cents.

"Well hello, Gerry-ferry." Oh. My. God. Was she seriously batting her eyes? Yes. Yes she was. Disgusting.

How is that even Gerald Atner can get a girlfriend, albeit an extremely atrocious and overbearing girlfriend, when I can't even get a guy to talk me unless he wants to cheat off my tests or copy my homework?

"Please don't call me that, Mandy-moo cow."

What's even more disturbing than his nickname for her, other than the fact that they actually call each other these names in public, is the fact that 'Mandy-moo cow' sounds like a freaking insult, and yet she just eats it up, batting her eyelashes and giggling and what not.

I couldn't believe they would act like this. I couldn't believe that society had accepted the idea of them acting like this.

Gerry-ferry went to open his mouth, but the loud buzzer thing sounded through the school, and he moved to take his seat.

"Later, Kimmy Neutron." I gave him a tight lipped smile at his use of the name my peers had given me after I got the highest score on the PSAT in ninth grade.

Pre-calc dragged on forever, and nothing new happened in advanced U.S. history. No, I was the same stuttering, blubbering, blushing Kim as usual when I'm in the near vicinity of Mr. Talon.

Honors Chemistry was a bit unusual though. One of my other close friends, though not as close as Lindsay, Danielle Merran, is one of those people with an extremely bubbling personality. I love her, but sometimes she can be very overwhelming, especially if you aren't in the mood to deal with her.

So, while in the midst of thinking how interesting it would be to jump up during one of Mr. Creekside's chemistry lessons and run screaming from the room, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Kim." Crap. "Psst. Kim!"

"Is there a problem back there Miss Merran?"

"Oh, no sir. I was just going to get Kimberly (blegh!) here to explain how to balance charges. Carry on!"

Mr. C. looked scandalized, but Dani turned back to her textbook and he resumed his monotonous lesson.

As I went back to thinking how much better gnawing my own foot off and eating it would be than this class, I heard the seat beside me, which was usually unoccupied because of Sloan Abbott's blatant refusal to participate in anything educational, scrape against the graying tile floor.

"So Kay Jay, about balancing those charges…"

"Cut the shit Dan. What gossip just couldn't wait until we go 'socialize' in the parking lot in thirty minutes?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I, Danielle Lee Merran, am talking to Blake Jessup…exclusively."

"Okay, and…"

"Kimberly Jenae Connweller! You're supposed to be one of my best friends!"

"And?"

"Ugh. Never mind.

"Okay. Thank you."

"Kim!"

"Mrs. Merran, please return to your seat."

"Fine."

And so ends the most eventful part of my day, other than almost getting run over by Taylor (bitch!) Travers' Prius while walking to my car.

**Okay people. You know what to do! Just hit that green button down there and let me know what you think! :-)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey, ya'll! :-) First off I want to collectively thank all my reviewers. You guys make my day! I'm sorry I haven't had time to respond to you guys, as I've kind of been in a crunch for time, and I figured you guys would rather get story updates than e-mails from me. As always, PLEASE R&R. I want feedback from you guys so I know how I'm doing, and what you guys like or don't like. So again, R&R!! And without further adieu, I give you, drumroll please, Chapter 4!!!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I don't own 'Twilight' or 'Dawn of the Dead.'**

Seventeen consecutive school days. Seventeen consecutive school days in which I, Kimberley Jenae Connweller, could pay no attention to anything except the empty seat beside me in first period, the empty seat at lunch two tables down and three table to the right of mine, the empty space in the group of senior baseball players who congregated in the back of the parking lot after school.

Seventeen consecutive school days in which Jared had failed to come to school. Twelve consecutive school days in which rumors had swirled mercilessly about where he was. Could he be that sick? Was he skipping because he found out his ex-girlfriend Rayne had become one of Paul's booty calls and didn't want to face them? Was he in jail? Did he kill someone? Did his dad come and make him move back to Knoxville?

I felt bad for Paul. Everyone kept badgering him to see what had happened, especially as the third week of his best friend's absence drew to a close.

The rumors really got going when Paul disappeared Monday. This was his fourth day of not being in schools. Jared's eighteenth.

I mulled over the events of the last months as I drove to school. As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed a large group, or as large of a group there can be when you live in La Push, had gathered around a red pickup-

Oh my God. He was back! I almost squealed- something I only do when I get free chocolate. In my excitement, I almost plowed into the car that was in the parking space beside mine. I immediately pulled myself together, or tried to at least, because the butterflies now gnawing at my stomach were making me feel like I had to vomit. I had spent so much time wanting him to be back that I hadn't really thought of what would happen when he was. I should have been excited, and I was, but my nervousness was making me sick. Just as I realized what a freak the voice in my head was, I felt an odd sensation rise up from my stomach, and I jerked my book bag out of the back seat of my jeep and almost ran to the bathroom. Before I could get there, though, I heard a voice calling my name.

"Kim! Kim?!" Shit! Could I not catch a break?

"What Gerald? WHAT?"

"God, Kimberley. Chill."

"What do you want?" I seriously contemplated upchucking on him right there in the main entrance. No one would be paying attention to me anyway. Jared was back. Oh crap. Here comes breakfast!

"I just wanted to let you know that we get our preliminary scores back from the state today. Mr. Mateo said a couple of us made it to the thing in Seattle."

Normally I would care about making it into the state mathletes' tournament. But today was definitely an exception.

"Great. Good. Whatever." And I rushed off. And then someone else called my name. Ugh! Mother nature had it out for me, I swear to God.

"Kim! I've been looking all over for you! Guess who's back?!" I grunted in response, not trusting my body enough to open my mouth.

"Wow. I thought you'd be happy about this." All I could do was give a smile that we both knew I didn't mean. "Kim, are you okay?" She was speaking in a hushed tone now. "You've spent almost a month moping, and now it seems like you don't even care!"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I threw my hand up, dropped everything I had in my arms, and ran across the lobby to the bathroom. I heard Lindsay's feet pounding against the tile right behind me.

You know you have a pretty good friend when she'll skip first period to hold your hair while listening to you puke up your guts.

The principal came looking for us when Mrs. Arroyo called the office to report me for skipping, and Mr. C did the same to report Linds. When he came in the bathroom and saw me slumped against the wall of the stall I was occupying, he let out a loud sigh.

"I'll radio the office to get you a pass into class Ms. Acres." She grabbed her stuff and trudged to the door.

"Your stuff's in the corner over there, Kim. I picked it up when you bolted."

"Thanks, Linds," I squeaked.

"You get to come with me, Ms. Connweller."

"I'm really fine, Mr. Fox. I just ate something for breakfast that didn't settle well, I guess." I needed to get to first period. I felt like it was vital to my health.

"Just the same, Kim, I'd like for the nurse to check you out. Maybe you should go home for the day, to be safe. I'll get your book bag." He said this in a way that both finalized our conversation and let me know that we were doing things his way.

I followed him out of the bathroom and into the office, walking around numerous desks as we made our way to the back where the nurse was.

Nurse Susannah, as she preferred for students to call her, called my mother at work to consult her on whether or not I should go home, and then made me talk to her.

I managed to convince them that I was okay to stay at school, which probably made them think I was nuts. I thought I was nuts, too. Who would pass up a chance to skip school, especially when adults are trying to get you to?

By the time I got out of the nurse's office, the bell that signaled the end of first period was ringing. Students filed out into the hall, and I once again faded away into the crowd. I pushed through the throngs of students still flocking to get a look at Jared. I hadn't even gotten a good look at him in the parking lot this morning and I knew he would probably look much different.

I was quiet for the entirety of second period, and did my best to shake off the glare Lindsay was giving me that I could feel boring a hole in the back of my head. As soon as the bell rang, I rushed out of the room. I didn't feel like talking to anyone, and I knew my best friend would definitely grill me about what happened this morning. I sat in the history room during lunch, and neither Linds nor Danielle came looking for me. Mr. Teague was surprised to see me so early, but didn't say anything as he pulled out his grade book and assembled his materials. I watched him write the agenda for the day up on the chalkboard, and I didn't notice anyone had come into the room until I heard loud laughter behind me.

My natural instinct was to turn toward the noise, so I did. I saw two of the younger kids, juniors, I think, scuffling around with one of the more popular girls in their grade. In my peripheral vision I saw Jared sit down on the other side of the classroom. I whipped around quickly as I noticed his head starting to turn in my direction, berating myself as I looked back toward the front of the room.

'What is wrong with you, Kim? Don't you want him make your dreams come true with just one look?' And my inner voice was back. And third period went pretty much the same as second. No talking. No paying attention. I was the first to skid out the door, and I almost sprinted to fourth period.

I had never felt more cowardly in my entire life as I slid into my seat in Chemistry that afternoon. I knew I would have to eventually buck up and face my destiny, but for some reason I didn't really want to. I surprised myself for the second time that day with my fear of him looking at me. I had never been a chicken. I may have seemed that way on the surface, but the real Kimberley Jenae Connweller was someone that you didn't want to mess with. At least, that's what I thought before this whole Jared fiasco.

I had been so excited; anxiously waiting with bated breath for this day to come. And now I was wimping out. Unbelievable. I had turned this whole thing into a big deal. Not that the whole imprinting thing wasn't a big deal; it's just that I was making it a big deal for all the wrong reasons.

I paid no attention to Mr. Creekside's lesson. Shocker. When the bell rang, I kind of just sat there, staring at the board, not wanting to move. Mr. C stared at me for a second, trying to analyze the situation, and probably thinking of chemical formulas that he could force into my mouth to solve whatever problem he'd concluded I had. And then he spoke. Joy.

"Ms. Connweller, are you alright?" I swear if I heard that one more time today I would-

"Kim! WHAT in the WORLD is wrong with you?! Is something going on in your personal life that I should know about? Are you feeling inadequate again?"

And time for more silent praying. 'Why God? Why do you hate me? Do you think it's funny that my best friend doesn't know how to keep her hole shut? Can't you just, you know, touch her with you fingernail or you little toe or your…something…and make her a mute? I wouldn't mind God! I'd even learn sign language! Please, just vanish her vocal chords. Anything.'

"Because you aren't Kim! You aren't! If this is about Jared, then you need to just forget about him. So what if he doesn't notice you? He's a jerk, Kim." And then God decided that he really did hate me, because guess who just so happened to be passing by at the exact moment my now ex-best friend chose to rant about him?

"I'm a jerk?" Yep. You guessed it.

Jared.

I've never seen Lindsay move so fast in her entire life as she practically threw herself around to face him.

I lowered my head immediately, grimacing. 'Just do it, Kim. Just freaking do it. All you have to do is lift up your head, and no- you can't avert your eyes. Now, three, two, one.' And I lifted my face up to his.

And it was amazing.

Except not really, because he didn't even get the chance to look at me. Because of, once again, Lindsay, who had shifted to the right, effectively blocking me from his view.

I can't really get mad at her, though. She was probably only doing it because she thought it was what I would have wanted.

Before she could even respond to him, one of his friends, McCall Harris, who everyone around here calls Cooter because of his man-whore-ishness, grabbed Jared by the shoulder and proceeded to pull him out of the room.

"C'mon, Talon! We've got baseball practice!" Jared hesitantly allowed himself to be led out of the classroom, mumbling something about not being able to play on the team anymore.

"Phew! Crisis averted, huh Kim?" I would have smacked her if my heart hadn't been beating at a thousand times per second.

I didn't speak as we walked outside into the thick, watered-down air, and when she tried to make conversation, I nodded and mhmm'd in all the appropriate places.

I hopped into my Jeep as soon as I could dig the keys out of my catastrophic mess of a purse, and sped out of the parking lot towards home.

Before I knew what I was doing I found myself veering off the main road and onto a gravel driveway. It was only when the small cemetery came into view that I realized where it was I was headed. I parked in the brown patch of grass that was worn and sparse from people passing over it as they made their way to visit loved ones long gone.

I sighed as I killed the engine, hoping that the next hour or so wouldn't be filled with a lot of crying and numerous questions that would go unanswered.

I padded over to where her headstone jutted out of the ground; a dismal, taunting reminder of all I had lost, and summed up in less than twenty words, too.

_'Kimimela Jenae White, Loving Wife, Mother, and Daughter'_

I crouched down in front of the stone, tracing the words engraved there with the tip of my index finger.

_'May You Be Our All-Knowing Guardian Forever.'_

That last bit was my idea. It was at the bottom of the light gray slab, etched in the language of our ancestors, about a foot below her birth year and her year of… the other thing. I sat cross legged as I rambled on to her, avoiding anything that had to do with the supernatural. I talked about anything and everything besides that. I wanted to feel normal for a little while; to feel like I wasn't walking around with a huge secret weighing me down.

So I talked about mathletes and how married life was treating Danny and Tess. I talked about Gerald Atner and mom and dad and Lindsay and the guy who she's kind of talking to. I told her how I'd been teasing mom about her lack of gardening experience. The small herb garden that had once flourished under Gram was now to the point of despotism.

I was quiet for a moment as I closed my eyes and let the sound of the wind fill my ears. When I opened my eyes, I saw a figure at the other end of the graveyard.

He began walking towards me, and when he was about thirty yards from me I immediately knew who it was. But what was Paul Stone doing out here?

I became sort of uncomfortable as he approached me. I had no idea how much control he had over himself, and I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea for me to stay and find out. I wasn't really worried about my safety. I could take care of myself just fine. The problem was that I would have no way to defend myself without exposing myself, as well. I backed up a few steps, and he held his hands out to me.

"I'm not gonna hurt you…Kim? That is your name, right?" I heard a whimpering noise in the trees behind him. Oh, great! Even more overgrown dogs to contend with.

"Yeah. I'm Kim. And you're Paul. You like yelling at people." Why did I say THAT? I saw him tense a little, and the distinct sound of a growl came from the same spot the other noise had come from.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that."

I just nodded.

"So. What are you doing?"

"Well, I visit cemeteries in my spare time. I enjoy hanging around the dead." Okay. I was really digging myself into a hole here. I really need to start thinking about what I'm going to say before I actually say it. His face tightened, and he got a bit angry. It probably would have been wise for me to walk slowly away from him by the look of the face he was pulling, but knowing me I probably would have tripped over a tombstone.

"That isn't a very smart thing to do. Dead people can be dangerous. Haven't you ever seen 'Dawn of the Dead'?" We both did an awkward chuckle kind of thing.

"I actually am out here hanging around the dead. My grandmother…" I trailed off, and his eyes softened a bit, which to me was more scary than imagining him exploding into a wolf right in front of me. Paul Stone's last name was exactly what his heart was made of. He was a legend at our school for being a lady-killer, having one night stands and lacking the decency to at least wait till a girl had her clothes back on before telling her to piss off.

But now here he was, all gooey. It was, like I said, frightening.

"Umm…you know my friend Jared, right?" Huh? Where was this conversation heading?

"Uh, yeah, I…might have heard of him." He looked at me with a smirk that said 'I know you're lying, and I know you secretly want to jump his bones like every other skirt in our school.' Which was, well, true. Even if I hadn't have known that we were destined to have our paths joined for the rest of eternity I'd still want to do him. He was HOT.

I blushed, and he continued.

"Well, he kind of wants to know if you'd meet him at the beach in a half hour."

I'm pretty sure that my eyes bugged out of my head and my jaw dropped so low that my bottom lip was playing peek-a-boo with an earthworm.

"Wh-what? Excuse me, what did you say?" No. Mother. Effing. Way!

He laughed again. "He, as in Jared Talon, wants to talk to you, as in Kim Connweller." I almost fainted. I wasn't ready for this!

"So meet him at First Beach in thirty minutes."

**So who likes cliffies?? I know I don't! So if you want the next chapter, you have to review! It isn't hard. I promise! So review! And the more reviews I get, the quicker the next chapter goes up! And we all know what's gonna happen in the next chapter!! So R&R. :-)**

**~darkgoddess**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N- Hi guys! I want to first thank all my reviewers. You guys are awesome!!! Sorry for the evil cliffie that you guys complained about, but there's a surprise in this chapter to make up for it. ;-) So...read on and REVIEW!!! The more you review, the faster I pump out chapters. Well, enough with me...enjoy chapter 5!!**

**Disclaimer-I'm not Stephanie Meyer. I don't own Twilight. **

Even though I couldn't be completely sure, I was pretty positive that the road kill I passed en route to First Beach was moving faster than I was.

I wasn't usually a procrastinator, but this strange, newly formed fear of my true love was really bringing the trait out in me. The walk from where I'd stood talking to Paul back to where I'd parked had felt very similar to what one probably experiences when walking the plank or being marched in front of a firing squad. I had wasted as much time as possible, even going so far as to performing all the checks suggested in my old drivers ed instruction manual before putting the Jeep in drive.

* * *

27 minutes and 33...32...31 seconds since I had left Paul standing alone in the cemetery. I found myself in the parking lot at First Beach, staring out at the foam from the breaking waves that was gathering at the point where the shore met the ocean, and trying to work up the nerve to get out of my car. As the thirty minutes that I had been previously allotted drew to a close, I finally threw caution to the wind, pushed my door open, and dropped the three feet to the ground. I walked towards the beach, slipping my shoes off and rolling the legs of my jeans up to my knees as I reached the tightly-packed sand.

I glanced down the beach and, lo and behold, there he was.

Yippee.

'Alrighty, Kimbo. This is it.' I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, slowly letting it slip back out as I began my trudge up the beach. Before I could even make it fifty feet, he started running towards me. It was painfully obvious, to me, at least, that he was holding back. I stopped dead in my tracks as he quickly closed the space between us. For some reason I noticed that the wind had picked up, probably because my hair was flying all over the place with some of the strands getting stuck in my mouth.

I watched a smile light up his features through the web of protein that was my hair. He picked up on my dilemma, and walked around me so that I would be facing the wind. His hand drifted towards my face, brushing away a chunk of my bangs that had attached itself to my lip, and in that moment I realized that the way he looked wasn't the only kind of hot he was.

"Hello."

"Hi." We stood staring at each other for a few moments, in a surprisingly comfortable silence. If I had known that I would have been drawn to him like this, I would've gone looking for him out in the woods after his first absence from school. That brought my attention back to the fact that I knew what he was, and also to the fact that he didn't know that I knew. So I would have to act semi-normal. Which meant being shy, weak, nerdy Kim, society's outcast. After all, it wasn't like I could just come right out and say, 'No need to worry, my Jared! I know that you turn into an overgrown canine and patrol the forest for vampires! Oh! And while we're on the subject, I also know that you imprinted on me!'

No, that probably wouldn't go over well. I briefly wondered when he'd 'done the deed,' so to speak. It couldn't have been at school, because he never even got the chance to see me. Did he see me at my grandmother's grave while he was in his wolf form? I'd ask later, when it was actually something that I could ask about.

For now, I guess I'd just have to suck it up and play the ignorant, love-struck invisible girl obsessed with the Brad Pitt of LPHS.

"So, Paul said you wanted to talk to me?" He snapped out of whatever trance he was in and looked down at his feet.

"Uh…yeah." He shifted his weight back and forth a few times, his eyes scanning the tree line before looking back to me. My first instinct was to try to drag whatever it was he had to say out of him, but that's something the Real Kim would do, not the fake Public Kim.

So I forced myself to let Public Kim take over, with her flat hair and her wide cheeks and her slight chubbiness and her goody-goody personality.

"So…" I hesitated a bit, hoping that this wouldn't be too forward.

"What did you want? Not that I mean that in a bad way! Because I don't!" That's right, Public Kim. Let your flapping mouth work it's magic.

"I mean, it's just, he said you wanted to talk to me, and I have no idea why you'd want to talk to me, not that you wouldn't ever talk to me. It's just, you've never talked to me before, not really, except for that one time you asked me for a pencil in eighth grade." Way to go, genius. If he wasn't totally biased because I was his freaking imprint, he'd most definitely be running in the other direction now. As if this long-winded speech wasn't enough, P.K. just kept on going.

"Not that I remembered that on purpose! Or that I think you were using me or anything." And she finally shut up. Except not. I should be getting an Oscar for this performance. Seriously.

"It's just, I don't know, this is weird, and-"

"Kim." He whispered my name with a sigh, and it was only then that I realized his dark eyes were boring into mine.

"Ye…yes?" Oh God. I think Real Kim was even feeling a little faint now.

He leaned in, inching closer to my face, and I felt his warm, minty breath wash over me, swimming up into my nose.

"Would you, um, like to go on a walk with me?" I saw his lips moving, but I processed none of what he was saying. When I didn't respond, he seemed to realize the effect he was having on me, and abruptly stepped back. I stumbled forward a bit, mumbling out a garbled protest.

"Would you go on a walk with me, Kim?" Oh.

"Um…yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." Welcome back, fake Kim.

He turned around, shoving his hands into his pockets, and jerked his head back, indicating he wanted me to follow. That was unnecessary, though. Even Real Kim would have followed him at this point.

By the way, referring to myself as two different people is really starting to weird me out. That's pretty bad when even you think you're a freak.

I slipped my hands into the front pouch of my hoodie and quickly matched my stride to his. We walked awhile before he finally spoke, causing me to jump a bit when his voice sliced through the sound of the ocean breeze.

"I did want to talk to you, Kim. I just don't really know how I'm supposed to say all this to you without you thinking I'm crazy." Crazy? He had no idea.

"I guess I want to start out by apologizing to you." I looked up at his face as he glanced over at me. "I have to be honest. I never really paid you any attention before."

Really, Jar? I hadn't noticed!

"But now…now I wish I would've." I walked a few more paces until I realized he had stopped and was staring after me.

I stared back, and the real Kim had no idea what to say. Fortunately, the fake one kicked in, and I forced a confused look onto my face.

"Why?" Fake Kim just has marvelous self-confidence, huh?

There was no hesitation when he said, "'Cause you're beautiful."

Oh Mylanta. Holy Toledo. Did he just say what I think he said? Neither Kim was expecting that curve ball. Never in a thousand years had I ever expected this conversation to go down like it was.

"Wh…what?" No faking here. I was floored.

In two strides he was standing two inches from me. He took my face into his large hands, and as our eyes connected I felt something in the pit of my stomach come to life. My heart was fluttering faster than it ever had, and as his eyebrows slanted downward, his eyes darting between my eyes and my lips, I blocked out any lobe of my brain that was shouting at me to act like fake Kim, threw my arms around his neck, and pressed my lips to his.

And it was amazing.

Except not.

Because amazing was what it felt like when you were free falling after you dove off a cliff into the ocean. Amazing was what it felt like to eat a hot fudge brownie sundae after school lets out and you had to run three miles in gym that day. Amazing was what it felt like to have an adrenaline rush when I was moving things with my mind.

But this? This was heaven.

Absolute heaven.

All too soon, he pulled away, and I moved backwards so fast that I stumbled, falling onto my butt. I buried my face into my hands, embarrassment quickly replacing any ethereal feelings I had just had.

And then I heard him laughing. He was laughing! Wasn't he supposed to be freaking out over the safety of my butt?

I lifted my head to see him kneeling down in front of me, doubled over as his body shook uncontrollably, and I couldn't help but join in. I let myself fall back, nearly snorting as I felt the gritty sand trying to work it's way into the back of my pants.

After a full minute of this, I calmed down a bit, whispering an apology that I didn't mean.

"Don't apologize for that. I wanted it, too. Probably more than you."

I shook my head, looking back up to him. I knew what I had to do.

"Why? I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but you've never even looked twice at me." My protective side leaped into action, defending a Kim who only existed to act as my cover-up.

He shifted into a cross-legged position, and I did the same, my eyes glued to my lap.

"It's something that I don't think I can explain right now, Kimberley." I groaned.

"Don't call me that. Ever again." He recoiled, thinking he had offended me.

Well, he had, but he didn't know.

"Don't get all nervous on me. I'm not mad. Just think of it as something to use for future reference." He smiled again, and oh, how I loved that smile.

"Okay…Kim." I lifted one of the corners of my mouth, trying to urge him on. He took the bait, and grabbed one of my hands, holding it gently between both of his.

"I want to tell you. I want to more than anything else. But I just…can't right now. I'll understand if you can't accept that."

"I can. It's okay." Fake Kim was back again. The real me would've demanded an explanation, that is, if I hadn't already known, but P.K. was weak. Everyone knew that. So that's how I would act. For now.

He looked relieved, and let out a breath I hadn't realized he was holding.

"But…" Oh yes. Little pieces of the real Kim were definitely going to slip through here.

"But what?" He looked nervous again.

"Well, I don't want to sound to presumptuous."

"You don't have to worry about that around me. There's nothing you could do or say that you wouldn't be able to do or say to me." Was he always going to be this sappy? Because it would get on my nerves. Fast.

"Um…okay. Well, it's just that I think we should probably be friends first. We don't know each other [lie on my part- I knew everything about this kid] and I just think it would be best if we waited to do…what we just did…again." Oh, yeah. Take that, Fake Kim

His face fell. And I almost felt guilty.

Almost.

But I knew that all I had to do was smile and he'd go all mushy again. So that's what I did. And he lit up like a four year old who just got the candy store he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.

I shook my head and started to stand up, but he put his warm hand on my knee, and I immediately sat back down.

"Where are you going, Kim? Being friends would be just fine with me. You haven't offended me or anything. You don't have to run off."

"Oh, I wasn't…"

"Because I'll be whatever you need me to be, and if that's your friend, then I'll be the best one you ever had." I briefly wondered what Lindsay would think of that statement, but when I saw the look in his eyes, the raw devotion piercing through them, I decided that I didn't care.

"Well, that's nice Jared. But I wasn't leaving. I just need to go to my car and call my parents. It'll be getting dark soon and they'll want to know where I am and…who I'm with."

"Oh. Are you gonna tell 'em you're with me?" He looked anxious, and I could tell he was trying not to get his hopes up.

"I don't see why not. We're friends, right?"

He smiled that sexy, toothy smile of his, and I couldn't trust myself to get up because I knew that I might turn into a big puddle of liquid-y Kim.

"Yeah. I guess we are." He hopped up with a grace that almost everyone but me would be surprised at because of how big he was. It was only as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet that I realized just how much he'd grown.

Before his change the top of my head had been at his eye level. He hadn't been short, probably pushing six foot, but I got my dad's super-tall gene. Now, though, I'd be pushing it if I said I could see over his shoulder on my tip-toes. He'd gotten a lot more muscled, too. A LOT more muscled. His hair, which had previously reached almost to the middle of his back, was gone now, turned into a spiky semi-buzz cut.

We walked back down the beach, both quietly consumed in our thoughts as our feet kicked up sand behind us. I was off in my own little fantasy world where Jared knew my secret and knew that I knew his-the same one I've had of us ever since I knew that there could one day be an 'us'- when he reached over and grabbed at my hand. I took his willingly, and we continued toward my car, our joined hands swinging between us the rest of the way there.

**There you have it! And no evil cliffie this time! So I think out of your appreciation you should REVIEW!!!!!!! Please?! :-) Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey, ya'll! I want to thank all my reviewers for their wonderful comments. I'm glad you guys like the story! And no worries. Everything will all be answered in time. I have several plot twists that I've worked into the story that I think you guys are going to like, and I already have a plot for the sequel in the works if I don't just add it in to this. So, now that I've taken up your valuable reading time with this a/n, I give you....drumroll please...CHAPTER SIX! Enjoy! And REVIEW!!!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie. Period. **

"I'm off to school, Ma!" I screamed as I barreled down the stairs into the foyer. I was determined to be at school at least five minutes earlier than my usual time of 'one minute till the tardy bell rings.' I was desperate to see Jared, although I would never admit that to him, or quite possibly to anyone else.

After our little jaunt on the beach Friday night, we'd spent practically the whole weekend together when he wasn't "helping his friend Sam and Sam's girlfriend fix the stairs on their porch." Of course, I knew he was really on patrol, but I figured I could let it slide. On Saturday night around eight we'd been in my backyard with Paul tossing a football around (even though it was March and freezing) after some pizza when they'd suddenly remembered they had to go and perform their handy man duties. I decided to have some of my own fun, considering I'd had to cut back on my telekinetic time, and messed around with Jared a little.

_Flashback_

"Why are you going to work on a porch at eight o'clock at night? It's dark."

"Oh." Jared looked a little gob smacked, but good ol' Paul jumped in and saved the day.

"Well, Sam works up at the timber mills during the day. And Emily, his girlfriend, helps Embry Call's mom at the souvenir shop sometimes. So we can only do it at night."

"Oh. Well, do you think they'd mind if I tagged along? I'm pretty good with a hammer." Paul looked torn between disbelief and laughter.

"Never would've pegged you for a tomboy, Kim," Jared said. He looked like I'd just made all his dreams come true.

"Well, I'm always too busy with…other things, like school, I guess. I don't really get to explore all the extracurricular stuff or whatever." Ah, sweet, sweet little fake Kim.

"Well, I guess you could come." Was he nuts? I almost laughed at his slip.

"Jared! She can't come, you nincompoop!" Oh my God! Did he just say nincompoop?

I burst out laughing, and he told me to shut up.

"Don't talk to her like that, Paul. It's your own fault for using that…word…anyway."

"I'll say what I want to Talon!" I was still laughing. I stepped in between them though before they could prematurely give away their secret to not only me, but to my neighbors who had just stepped into their backyard to check out what all the commotion was about. I'm sure they were already extremely skeptical about the fact that there were two hot men in my yard talking to me; probably because they thought I was testosterone-repellant. No need to further their worry by seeing said hotties explode into fur balls.

"Look, you guys need to get going before you're late. I just remembered I have a scholarship essay to finish up. Catch you guys tomorrow?"

"Sure. Peace, Connweller!" And with that Paul took off around my house to the front, where Jared's truck was parked.

"Sorry I had to bring him along. He says I've been 'neglecting his needs.'"

"No, it's cool," I said laughing. "He added some spice to our little soiree."

"Okay, Miss SAT words." He sighed a little, scratching the back of his neck as his faced scrunched up some. "I don't want to go. I had too much fun."

"Wow. Thanks a lot. I'm sure my mom's homemade pizza and getting the third degree from my dad is a step up from all that rockin' partying you're used to, huh?"

He laughed a little at that. "Definitely. 'I'm all tuckered out', as Paul would probably say." I chuckled remembering his early slip up.

"I don't have to finish my essay, y'know. I could come with you. That is, if you want me there." Man, I was so proud of myself! I even batted my eyelashes a little.

"Of course I want you to come! It's just, it's kind of- complicated. I'm really sorry Kim. Truly."

"It's okay." Fake Kim took over again. "I understand. We're still on tomorrow for the beach right?"

"Oh, lover boy! We're gonna be late! Let's go!" Stupid Paul. Jared groaned, looking at the ground and huffing.

"Yeah. I'll be there, Kim. Definitely." He smiled, and moved in for a hug, just as the horn blew from the other side of my house. He jumped back quickly, waved awkwardly, and ran out of sight.

_End Flashback_

Sunday had been even better. We'd gone for a walk on the beach, gone to the diner for a burger (and let me take this time to say that that kid can EAT! He was just being polite Saturday night when my mom had only made three pizzas), and I basically talked about myself for two hours, avoiding all the particulars, of course.

So, I was dying to see him. Even though we'd technically only been friends for a weekend, it felt like much longer for me, and I was his imprint, so neither of us really minded our newfound closeness.

I parked my Jeep in the parking space farthest away from the entrance, as usual, and I saw Lindsay hurrying towards me, obviously surprised to see me there earlier than was normal for me. Before she could reach me, though, I saw a red truck speed into the lot from my peripherals, expertly sliding into the space directly to the left of mine. I stared into the cab at Jared, smiling brightly as he looked up at me after putting his truck in park. In a flash he had his door open and ran over to get mine before I could even reach the handle.

"Morning, Kim."

"Hey, Jar." I jumped to the ground and popped the latch to move my seat up, then reached in the back to pull out my backpack. Jared tried to wrench it out of my hands, but I was adamant.

"I'm good, Jared. I-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t, do ya know what I mean, man?"

"Please don't ever try to rap again, okay Kimmy?"

"Hey, Linds!" I had completely forgotten about her. What a great friend I was. She was looking at me with wide eyes and if her eyebrows rose up any further, they'd disappear into her hair line. I locked up the Jeep, for no reason, of course (this was La Push, after all), just as Lindsay tugged on my arm, dragging me towards the entrance of the school, looking back skeptically at a slightly amused, slightly affronted Jared.

"Linds, what are you doing? Stop!"

"We need to have a little chat, Kimmy." She looked back to Jared again, except it was more of a glare this time. I caught his eyes and smiled, giving him a little wave with my free hand.

"See you in first period, Jar." He smiled back, his mood obviously brightened by the thought of seeing me in mere minutes.

"Bye." He waved back sweetly, and I'm pretty sure I heard a gagging noise from my captor, but I was too wrapped up in those chocolate eyes to notice.

I turned around and allowed myself to be pulled through the double doors into the lobby, and down the history hall to the deserted tribal archives room. Lindsay slammed the door shut and rounded on me, and I prepared to receive the third degree.

"Kimberley Jenae, what the HELL was that?!"

"What was what?"

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Don't play stupid, Connweller. Don't even do it. Jared freaking TALON was talking to YOU in the parking lot this morning. And you know something else? HE LOOKED LIKE HE WAS ENJOYING IT!"

"Oh, gee, thanks, BEST FRIEND. You're so supportive and encouraging!"

"I'm just keeping it real, Kim. He's playing you! It's some sick joke! He's never even talked to you and now he's replacing me as your best friend? And all over the span of a weekend? Puh-lease."

I know she had my best interests at heart, but I couldn't help but help but want to defend Jared against her accusations. Must come with the whole imprinting thing.

"Whatever, Lindsay. We spent the whole weekend together, and he was completely genuine! And you know what else? I saw him on the beach Friday night and we talked and then I kissed him. Yeah! I kissed him! And he kissed back. And he seemed to like it pretty good, if you know what I'm saying!"

"Oh, so let me get this straight. You MADE OUT with him randomly on the beach randomly after a five minute conversation and THEN he proceeded to hang out with you for the entire weekend? Of course he did, Kim! He thinks it's gonna be easy to get into your pants! He wants to make you his fu-"

"Don't you DARE finish that sentence if you value the shape of your nose, Acres."

"Yeah, right, Kimberley. I'd like to see you try."

"What? You think I wouldn't?"

"No, I don't, Kimberley. What happened to you, huh? You were smart, sweet, quiet Kim and-"

"Invisible! I was invisible. Invisible Kim freaking Connweller who never, EVER gets noticed by anyone ever. And you know what? I think maybe you're jealous! Because you-"

"Jealous? I can't believe you just said that!"

"Yeah, well I did! You're just jealous because you're lonely and miserable and a complete-"

And then she hit me. She hit me GOOD. Just as her hand and my face connected with a loud 'thwack,' the door burst open, and Principal Fox walked in with the school resource officer. My jaw dropped, and my right hand flew up to my face, where my cheek was starting to heat up from her slap. Deep down, I knew I deserved it, but I wasn't thinking at the time. Right as Mr. Fox grabbed at Lindsay to pull her away from me, I balled my hand into a fist and socked her right in her nose.

As soon as my now aching hand was back at my side, I felt immensely guilty. "Oh God, Lindsay! I'm sorry! I'm SO sorry!"

"Ah! God, my nose! I think it's broken!" She pulled her hands away from her face, and even through all the blood I could see it angling abnormally. She gingerly cupped her hands around her face again, moaning as Mr. Fox pulled her out of the room, radioing the main office to tell Nurse Susannah she was coming up. A large group of students had gathered outside of the room, and some of the teachers who had been assigned to crowd control began ushering students to their first period.

"Ms. Connweller, please come with me." I was now crying. Scratch that. Bawling. I was sobbing harder than the time Danny had cut all the hair off of my Barbie dolls when I was six to recreate Platoon, his then-favorite movie. I didn't care who saw. I had just punched the girl who'd been my best friend since forever. I wanted to throw myself over a bridge. As if that wasn't enough, I saw Jared pushing his way through the throng of students, trying to get to me, and looking extremely worried.

I took one look into his eyes and a fresh round of sobs wracked my body. I looked down immediately, and he called out to me, surprising more than a few people, I'm sure.

"Kim? Kim! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He looked like he'd bust up the principal if I gave any indication that that's what I wanted. He kept staring at Mr. Fox's hand that gripped on to my upper left arm, and I could've sworn I heard him growl.

"Mr. Talon, please go to class." Jared completely ignored him, and shot me a concerned glance.

"I'm…_sniffle_…fine. I'll see you…_sniffle_…later." And with that I was led to the main office, no doubt to endure a phone call to parents who would soon be livid, and to face some kind of official school punishment, as if feeling the guilt of deforming my best friend who would probably now be my ex-best friend wasn't enough.

I was already seated in front of Mr. Fox's desk, beside a slowly recovering, seething Lindsay, when our mothers walked through the door.

Great.

Insert an hour of yelling, chastising, profuse apologies, more yelling, some lividness, skirting around the real reason we were fighting, and more yelling. Then add twenty minutes of me and Lindsay sitting on one of the benches in the lobby while our mothers and principal discussed disciplinary options, not talking, and you have my unusually eventful morning.

"Get up, Kim. We're going home."

"I can't go home, mom! I have class!"

"Not for three days you don't. Mr. Fox suspended you."

"Suspended?! What?!" Oh my God! I couldn't get suspended! I had college to think about! Or did I? Woah. I didn't even hear a word my mom said as we made our way out to the car. I was lost in my thoughts-again.

Was I going to college? I'd never really thought about it. I mean, I knew I couldn't be going too far, what with the visions my grandmother had had and all, at least not for a while. I had worked my butt off in school, but because that was the one place where I really could apply all of myself, not because of any plans that I had made for my future.

Man, I was messed up. I'd just lost my best friend for absolutely nothing, because she had no idea what was going on between me and Jared. And if I wasn't who I, well, was, then I would've probably agreed with her. But I was who I was, and I knew things she didn't, and the repressed Real Kim popped out of nowhere. Repressed? I guess I was repressed. After all, I'd been pretending to be someone I wasn't for as long as I could remember. Even from the time I'd been a toddler my mom or my dad or my grandmother had been telling me 'Act normal, Kim.' 'Don't let your powers slip, Kim.' 'Make sure you keep everything in check, Kim.' 'Can't let anyone know your little secret, huh ,Kim?'

Being a poser you're entire life is bound to drive you nuts eventually, right? I suppose it was, because here I was, lying on my bed, not remembering how I got there, staring at the ceiling fan as it went round and round, and thinking about how my real personality had been stifled by another.

Can you say freak show?

I was knocked out of my trance as I heard a commotion downstairs. "She's grounded. No friends. Especially no male friends."

Huh? Since when did I have male-oh. I glanced at the clock. It was only 12:30. Shouldn't he be in school?

"Please, Mrs. Connweller. I just need to make sure she's okay. Then I'll leave. I promise." I cringed, just waiting for her to yell at him or something. But it never came. In fact, I'm pretty sure I heard my mom squeak and say 'Put me down.'

I heard him thundering up the steps, taking them at least two at a time, and thankfully I hadn't been alert enough to lock my door when I'd closed it earlier, because he kind of just burst into the room. If it hadn't been for his super-enhanced gracefulness, he probably would've landed in a heap on top of my dirty clothes.

_Dirty clothes!_ Crap. Oh well. He'll probably be ecstatic to see my plain cotton under-roos.

"Kim!" He sighed in what appeared to be relief. He was shirtless, and had obviously ran here in his other form.

"'Jared, how did you…never mind."

"How did I get past Fox? Wasn't hard. I faked a fever. They called my mom, and I got to go 'home.'" Okay. That was easy.

"Oh."

"Kim, I…I'm sorry. I know this is my fault, and don't say it isn't, because I heard everything you guys said."

Damn him and his dog ears. How embarrassing.

"I wanted to come here and apologize, and to check on you. I told your mom that I would just come and check on you and leave, but if you want me to stay I can go out the front and then sneak in your window. I'm pretty agile."

Wow. Even when he was trying to be supportive and helpful he still managed to toot his own horn. Not that that was a completely bad thing, just inappropriate for the time.

I wanted him to stay. The only thing I wanted more was for Lindsay to go back to being my best friend again. But I didn't want to push things. We were just friends after all, and I didn't want to seem too desperate. And there I go again. Repressing myself. Yay. So I said nothing, hoping he would just take the initiative and put his little plan into action. But he, of course, took my silence for a bad thing, and jumped to conclusions.

"Ah, dang. You probably want to be alone now, and I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I'm so stupid."

Oh, how wrong he was. I was SICK of being alone, and I hadn't even realized it until he'd ran into my life.

"You're not stupid, Jared. Of course I want you to stay." Then he smiled the smile that I was now officially claiming as my own, and he walked out the door in a hurry. I was still laughing quietly as he bounded down the stairs, yelled goodbye to my mom, and slammed the front door.

I got up off the bed, shut and locked my bedroom door, hurriedly threw my dirty panties in my closet, and ran over to throw open the window. I tried to look surprised as Jared scaled the vinyl siding up to my windowsill, where he heaved himself in, landing on his feet, but I just didn't have the energy. I sat cross-legged on my bed, leaning against the headboard as he plopped down near the footboard, stretching out as much as he could and propping up on one arm.

"So, you wanna talk about what happened today?"

"I'd rather not."

"Oh. Okay." I guess that wasn't the answer he was expecting to hear. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Umm, I guess we could talk about how well Emily's porch is coming along." He laughed.

"Yeah, we could talk about that, or we could talk about how I want you to come meet some of my friends in a couple of weeks."

Woah! He was moving this along pretty quickly, huh?

"Re-really?"

"Well, yeah! See, it's Embry Call's birthday, and we're having a party at Sam's. Emily, his girlfriend, well, you already know that, is cooking and stuff, and she told me it'd be awesome if you'd come, seeing as she's usually the only girl."

"Okay. Sounds like fun." I was pretty excited. I knew Emily and I were going to be good friends one day.

"Really? You wanna go?"

"Really. I really do." If at all possible, he smiled even wider.

"That's great! I guess-" He stopped mid-sentence, and I was confused momentarily, until I heard my mom's footsteps on the staircase.

"Quick!" I whispered. "The closet!" I was gesturing wildly toward the half-open sliding door, and he practically launched himself from my bed to the disaster area, somehow managing to fit in their while simultaneously closing the door. I hurriedly unlocked my door and zoomed back to my bed, where I pulled my journal out from under my mattress and pretended to read it.

"Kim? Can I come in?"

"Yeah, mom. It's open." She walked in, appraising the state of my disheveled room.

"Look, Kim. I don't know what happened today at school, or what's going on in that head of yours, but what I do know is that you need to make some changes in your schedule or your life or something. And I think you need to talk to someone about whatever problems your having."

"You know I can't do that, mom." I was praying with everything I had in me that she would keep her mouth shut about the whole Guardian thing. Of course, I knew everything went well, because no one outside of my family would know my secret until Alaska, which is what I'd taken to calling the incident these days.

"I know, Kim, I know. But you don't have to mention any of that…stuff. You could call it something else, like your mental disorder, or something." How was I going to explain this conversation to the wolf man in my closet? Hopefully he wasn't listening.

Yeah, right.

"Well, just think on it. You don't have to make any decisions right now. But what you do need to be doing is straightening out your friendship with little Lindsay. That girl had been too good a friend to you for you to just let her go."

"I know, mom. I'm gonna call her tomorrow. I'm kind of tired right now."

"Okay, baby. You rest for now, then we talk business when your father gets home. I'm thinking all the housework for a month?" I groaned. I hated cleaning.

"Fine, fine." She smirked at me, and pranced out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I got up and locked the door as soon as I heard her hit the first floor, and Jared stepped out of my closet just as I turned back around.

As soon as I saw him I wished I'd have thrown my underwear somewhere else, because in one hand he had my favorite blue ones with little white stars, and in the other one he had what I'm pretty sure was the thong Lindsay got me as a gag gift for my sixteenth birthday.

He was grinning in a way that made me think of what Tom would look like if he successfully caught Jerry. "What are these, Kim?" At least now I wouldn't have to explain the conversation between my mother and me. He'd been to busy groping buttless underwear.

"Oh my God, Jared. They're my panties. Everyone wears some form of them."

"Not me."

"Did you just admit to going commando?"

"Maybe."

"Sick. Thanks for sharing!"

"No, Kim. Thank YOU for sharing." He laughed at me as I tried to wrench my undies out of his hands, but he held on tight and I eventually gave up.

"Fine. Take them home and tack them up on your wall for all I care." His face fell as it dawned on him that I might be angry, and I took the opportunity to snatch the garments from him.

"Hey!" he said, perking back up.

"Ha! Gotcha."

"I won't fall for it next time."

"Ah, silly, naïve little Jared. There won't be a next time."

"I wouldn't count on it."

We spent the rest of the afternoon engaged in playful banter, until he was forced to leave when my dad got home, since my parents wanted to sit down for a chat.

As he was about to make his descent out of my window he hesitated, and walked back toward where I stood in front of my desk.

"Umm, can I hug you, Kim?" I laughed, and without answering, wrapped my arms around his midsection.

"Bye, Jared. Have a good night."

He gently kissed the top of my head, and reluctantly released me. "Bye, Kim. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that he left.

I closed my window and walked backwards clumsily, collapsing onto my bed with a loud sigh before heading downstairs to face the inevitable.

Honestly, I couldn't have cared less about what my parents were going to do to me. Jared could sneak in the window whenever I wanted, and that was all the consolation I'd ever need.

**So, there you have it! Chapter six! My longest one yet!!! Now, out of your appreciation, REVIEW!!! :-) Please? R&R.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I want to start off by thanking all my reviewers. You guys are AWESOME. So awesome, in fact, that you've inspired me to pump out another chapter just three days after my last one! Thanks so much for all your comments. I really appreciate it. Also, at the end of this chapter are responses to some of the questions some of you guys have been asking. Hope they help! So...on to chapter 7! Enjoy!! And maybe R&R? :-)**

**Disclaimer:I'm not Stephanie. I don't own Twilight. **

Sometimes, living in a small town can be nice, especially the no traffic part, but usually it just sucks.

Like earlier today, for example, when the cashier at the general store, who by the way has never talked to me before, ever, not only knew my name, but asked me how my hand was. Let's just say that I stood there openmouthed, clueless as to how I was supposed to respond to the middle-aged clerk named Janet who appeared to know my entire life story.

Luckily, I didn't have to. Before I could make myself look like a jackass, the familiar voice of a half-human filled my ears.

"Connweller!" I whipped around, the candy bar and box of frozen pizzas I had in my hands falling back onto the conveyor belt thing.

"Oh! Hey Paulie." He glared at me, and then smirked.

"So, Kimberley, why are you out and about? Aren't you supposed to be grounded for a month?" I sighed loudly, throwing a twenty at Janet the nosey and, not bothering to wait for change, jerked the three grocery bags off the counter. I made my way out of the store, Paul hot on my heels.

"I'm running errands for my mom, not that it's any of your business. Plus, my month was up yesterday."

"No need to get all snippy, princess," he said, taking two of the bags and freeing one of my hands to dig in my jacket pocket for the keys.

I laughed at his retort, taking my groceries from him and flinging them all into the back seat. "So, is it just a coincidence that you're here helping me with my groceries or are you some creeper just waiting to whisk me off to some dark alley?"

He snorted. "Psh. Yeah. Like I'd touch you." I feigned hurt.

"You mean, you WOULDN'T kidnap and rape me? I'm offended."

"Hell no, I wouldn't. Jared would kill me." I'm pretty sure my heart sputtered a little at the thought of Jared defending my honor.

"I don't need Jared to protect me, buddy. I'm a pretty tough cookie." He looked amused, and I only wished I could really show him I wasn't kidding around and wipe that smirk off his face.

"Yeah, sure. But, to answer your first question, no I'm not here stalking you. Jared asked me to check up on you, and make sure you were still coming tonight. You are still coming, aren't you?

"Yeah. What? Did you guys think I'd skip out or something?" I smiled in a way that almost dared him to answer that question with a yes.

"Well, I didn't think that, but Jared's obsessive compulsive. He just wanted to be sure. Hey, could I ride with you to Emily's? I…walked here."

"Sure. No problem. I needed directions anyways, because Jared was already going to be there to work on the porch." He seemed like he was fidgeting a little, and I sort of wondered if something else wasn't going on.

"Paul? Are you alright?"

"Um, yeah. She lives up on Dancing Spirits road." I didn't say anything as we hopped in the car and pulled out of the parking lot. An awkward silence settled between us, and he began to sift through the basket of CDs that I kept on the floor board.

"So you're a hardcore rock chick, huh? You never fail to surprise me, princess."

I groaned, upset that he now had his own personal nickname for me.

"Well, Paulie, there are a lot of things that you don't know about me. Like how I booty dance on the weekends."

"You're being sarcastic, right?" I gave him my most serious, no nonsense look, and he burst into hysterics.

"Princess Kimberley, the booty dancing raver! Hah!"

"Yeah, shut up, Mr. 'I-talk-like-I-was-middle-aged-in-the-fifties.'" His mouth snapped close.

"Kim?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there something wrong with Jared?" Okay. I was pretty sure that there was a hidden agenda to him 'running into me' at the grocery store, mostly because he bought nothing, but I wasn't expecting that one. I fervently hoped this wasn't becoming a new pattern in my life.

"What do you mean is there something wrong with him?"

"That's exactly what I mean! What's so bad about him? I mean, I know he isn't exactly a genius or the nicest guy ever, but he isn't completely awful."

"Okay, first of all, you sound kind of like a girl, and second, no I don't think there's anything wrong with him. Why would I think that? And more importantly, why would you even ask?"

"It's just, you won't date him, or take the next step from whatever it is you guys are doing. And I wouldn't even say anything but he's being all pathetic and moping, and it's annoying the rest of us."

"I've only known him for a grand total of six weeks! Well, technically it's been a lot longer than that, but we've only been friends for six weeks."

"So? He's smitten over you!" There he went with his old lady words.

"Then why are you the one telling me instead of him? And besides, every time we've hung out, he's given no indication of any feelings of the sort."

"That's a lie and you know it, Kim. I know all about the kiss on the beach that night, and when I say I know all about it I mean that I know you were the one to initiate it."

"Yeah? Then you'll also know how we agreed to be friends."

"And I also happen to know that all in your tenth grade history notebook, you have 'Mrs. Kim Talon' scrawled in various forms."

I'm pretty sure we would have crashed into the forest if he hadn't have grabbed the steering wheel after my very loud, very shocked gasp.

"How the FUCK did you know about that, Paul? Huh? HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" I may have been hyperventilating. I could've sworn I'd burned that thing, along with any other evidence of my infatuation.

"I didn't until just now."

CRAP! Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP! Stupid, stupid, STUPID. Stupid me and my stupid, crappy big mouth.

I glared murderously at him, and slammed on the brakes, causing him to fly forward into the windshield. Serves him right for not putting on a seat belt.

"Owwwww…" I threw the gearshift into the parked position, and without bothering to shut off the engine, I hopped out of the car, went about five feet into the woods, and screamed. Now, I know this sounds a little melodramatic and all, but now that Paul knew, Jared would, too. And so would Sam. And Embry and Quil and Jacob and the Clearwaters, who had been the latest kids enlisted to 'help fix Emily's porch.' Yes, they were still using that excuse. If I didn't already know their secret, I'd probably be thinking that that was going to be some hell of a porch and set of stairs.

But anyhoo, I screamed bloody murder at the top of my lungs for at least thirty seconds straight. After I was done with my hissy fit, I walked casually back to the driver's side of the car and hopped in, taking a moment to smooth my hair down and check my reflection in the rearview mirror. Paul was staring at me like I was insane as I punched the gas, squealing the tires as I pulled back onto the asphalt. I made a left onto my street, and before Paul could say a word, I put my hand in his face, effectively stifling any smart comment he was going to make about me not going the right way to Emily's. I pulled into my driveway, killed the engine, and turned to him.

"You," I said, pointing my finger at him, "stay." I laughed at my little pun, and the look on his face clearly told me that he thought I'd lost it.

I grabbed the groceries and ran into the house, setting them on the counter in front of my mom where she was reading one of her smutty romance novels, and turned to head back out the door.

"Where's the fire, Kimbo?"

"I'm off to Emily's house. I'll be back late."

"Oh, really? And who said you could be back late?"

"Please, mom? I have to establish relationships today! You know this is important!" I felt like I was having a 'United States of Tara' personality-disorder-moment. I had freaked out, become eerily calm, and reverted back to being a toddler all in less than ten minutes.

"Fine, fine. Do what you want. But make sure you're home before I wake up, okay? I need someone to make my Sunday coffee."

"Okay, ma. Whatever." I jetted out the door, thinking about how weird my mom and her diet regimens were. Her latest antics included having coffee only on Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. I had no idea how this was supposed to help her lose weight, but I didn't care. As long as she didn't try to pull me in, I remained apathetic.

As I hopped back in the car, Paul looked at me almost apologetically.

"Look Kim, I'm sorry for bringing all that stuff up. I shouldn't have."

"Don't apologize. It's too weird when you're overly nice."

"So you'd prefer for me to be annoying? Oh, God. Everyone is just going to love you." He laughed to himself for a few more minutes, occasionally pointing out a turn I needed to take.

We arrived at Emily's and I almost snorted when I saw Jared and the kid I knew was Embry putting boards together, framing out steps that led to what looked like a brand new porch. There were two other boys lounging around in the yard. One of them resembled Chief Ateara's grandson, so I figured the other one was either Jake or Seth. Leah, Seth's sister, probably wasn't here. She hated Sam's guts for dumping her and shacking up with her cousin. Like I said, La Push is a small town, and word gets around.

As soon as he saw me, Jared threw his hammer down, and Embry cried out as it hit his bare toes.

"Dude! Unnecessary!"

Jared didn't even acknowledge him as he ran over to open my door for me.

"Hey, Kim! I'm glad you came!"

"Me, too. I can't believe you thought I wouldn't, you dummy!" He looked at me sheepishly before glancing up at Paul.

"So he told you that, huh?" He looked embarrassed. Too bad I was going to have to heighten it later.

"That, among other things, which we can discuss later." He smiled, probably glad that I'd given him another opportunity to see me.

"Jared? Jared, is that Kim I just heard pull up?" I heard a sweet, tinkling feminine voice float out from inside of the small house.

"Yeah, Emily! Princess Kimmy's here!" Paul answered before Jared could even open his mouth. The latter looked at me questioningly, curious as to why Paul had called me that, and I just shrugged him off and gestured toward the house.

"Oh! Come with me Kim. There's a couple of people I want you to meet." Jared grabbed my hand, almost as if it was the most natural thing on earth for him to be doing, and dragged me toward the unfinished entryway. He introduced me to Quil and Seth, the other boy I hadn't recognized. By the way, 'boy' is a very inappropriate term for these guys. They're all massicce, which is part of the reason why I couldn't remember who they were.

I waved at Embry and wished him a happy birthday, but my greeting was cut short as I was lifted onto the porch. I knew Jared was strong, but he caught me off guard a little.

"Why, yes Jared! I'd love for you to lift me onto the porch without asking!" I said, slapping a sickly sweet smile on my face. He looked at me apologetically and before I could say anything to comfort him, I felt a pair of arms turn me around and pull me into a tight embrace.

"Oh my gosh! It's so nice to finally meet you! Jared's told me so much about you!" She pulled back, holding me at an arm's length and appraising me, sighing loudly as she said "I am SO excited that there's going to be another girl around here! You have no idea how lonely it can get living in a sea of testosterone."

A man who I figured must be Sam appeared in the doorway, clearing his throat.

"Hello." Emily stepped aside as I moved forward. I knew he was the alpha, but even if I hadn't I would've known he was pretty important. For some reason I felt the strong desire to earn his approval.

"Hi. I'm Kim." I stuck my hand out, and he took it, shaking it in a friendly manner and giving me a warm smile. I glanced over at Jared and he looked tense, as if he was just waiting for something to happen that would require him to jump in between the two of us.

"I'm Sam. Nice to meet you."

I said the same of him and dropped his hand, allowing Emily to usher me into the house and subsequently her kitchen, as she chattered away happily. I wasn't surprised when she put me right to work chopping up onions and peppers for the spaghetti sauce. I forewarned her not to let me do anything else, as I was in contention for the award for worst cook in the universe ever. We made small talk over the next hour, yammering comfortably with each other as if we'd been friends for fifteen years instead of fifteen minutes.

As dinnertime neared the boys filed into the kitchen and took their places at the table. Emily made two plates that I assumed were for her and myself before she set six platters on the table. I briefly wondered where the guy named Jacob was, but according to Jared he hung around in Forks a lot with some girl names Bella, who was the daughter of the chief of police there.

I watched as Emily began setting food on the table, and I was amazed that her tiny body could pick up the huge pot of noodles she had made, but she managed, so I went for the meat sauce.

"You sure you can handle that thing, Kim?" Embry said. Jared hopped up to help me, but I waved him off.

"Having an older brother who wants to torture people when he grows up and practices on you can make a person pretty durable, so I think I can manage," I said as I set the container on the table.

I went to sit down at the table, but Emily put a hand on my shoulder and nodded her head towards the bedlam that was now occurring at it. I shouldn't have been, but I was a little grossed out. Emily laughed at my expression, then picked up her plate, grabbed two Cokes, and told me to follow her into the living room.

She turned on the television and flicked through a few channels, finally stopping on Comedy Central. As I watched the beginning credits to Reno! 911, I popped open my drink can and stuffed some of the spaghetti into my mouth.

And I was pretty sure I had an orgasm. In my mouth, that is. Because for just being spaghetti, it was freaking awesome.

"Holy crap, Emily!" I shrieked. "Where did you learn to cook like this?!" I heard muted laughter coming from the kitchen.

She grinned at me, and through a mouthful of food said, "My mom." She giggled as juice dribbled out of the corner of her mouth, and I began shoveling food into my mouth as fast as I possibly could without choking myself.

"Have some spaghetti, Kim!" I bit down on the noodles in my mouth, the part of them hanging out dropping to the plate. Chewing quickly, I said,

"I wasn't aware that I had an audience." Sure enough, the six of them had come into the living room from the kitchen, plopping down in various places. Not only did they eat a lot, but they did it fast. I laughed as I saw that Embry had his cake balanced on one arm while he leaned against the door frame with the other, smirking at me. I was surprised at how fast I'd become comfortable with these people. I hadn't even spoken twenty words to Embry, Quil, Seth, and Sam combined and I already felt like we were old friends, joking around and making fun of each other.

I glanced at Jared and he appeared to have a bright smile fixed permanently on his face. He looked extremely happy that I was fitting in so well here. I was, too. I hadn't been worried that I wouldn't, but I had still been nervous. Because of what my dad called my condition, I'd spent my entire life being wary of people I didn't know. Here, though, knowing they had secrets of their own, I was more at ease with mine.

"So, I take it you want your cake now, Embry?" Emily said as she stood up. He nodded enthusiastically, and we all laughed at his childishness. "Well, c'mon then. Go set it on the table and I'll get the candles."

After the cake had been demolished, we sat at the table for at least two hours telling stories and arguing about who would win in a fight between Jackie Chan and Chuck Norris. Just as Seth put in his piece for the Texas Ranger, my cell phone went off, the sound of Flyleaf alerting me to the fact that I had a new text message.

I popped open my phone, my mouth dropping open as I saw that it was from Lindsay.

I hadn't talked to her since our fight at school. I had called everyday for three weeks, but after her mom got in touch with my mom and asked that I stopped, I had. I still kept up my efforts at school, but after seeing Jared and Paul sitting with me at lunch after my suspension ended, both she and Danielle had started ignoring me completely. At least that was better than the rest of the school, who had reacted to my newfound friendship with the two hottest guys in our school in a less than subtle way. Let's just say that I had either been at the center of a scandalous rumor or the butt of someone's joke and leave it at that.

What the message contained surprised me even more; so much so that I gasped audibly, my face pulling into one of deep concern.

"Kim?" Emily had noticed my expression, and her face mirrored mine. Everyone had turned to stare at me, and I heard Jared ask me if everything was okay. I nodded, mumbling a quick apology as I got up and scrambled for my keys.

"Sorry. I'm afraid I've got to go. One of my friends needs my help with something. Here," I said pulling a card out of my purse. "Happy birthday, Embry! Thanks for having me over, Emily. Dinner was great."

Jared got up as I waved goodbye to everyone and followed me out the door. As we reached my Jeep, he opened the door for me, but stepped up to my side, between me and the door, before I could get it shut.

"What's going on, Kim? Are you okay? Is someone hurt?" Before he could continue his little interrogation, I threw my arms around his neck in a hug, effectively shutting him up.

"It's nothing. Lindsay just needs my help with something." I could tell he was skeptical as we broke apart. It didn't help that I'd confided in him that neither of my friends were talking to me over what I called a big misunderstanding. We'd just talked more about it last night, so I knew he knew nothing had been resolved.

"Thanks for inviting me. I had a good time."

"I'm really glad you came. Oh, and Kim?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you say we needed to talk about something?" Oh yeah. That.

"Yeah. But I kind of need to go take care of this first. Can I call you tonight?"

"I, um, I actually have to go help my dad with some work tonight, and I won't get in until three in the morning."

"Can I call you then? Or will you be too tired?"

"No, no. You can call anytime. Especially if you need something. And don't be afraid to call Sam or Emily or Paul or something. They're in the tribal directory."

"Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later, then. Thanks again. I had a lot of fun."

"Me, too. Be safe."

"Bye." He shut the door and I waved to him before I sped out of the driveway, my back tires spinning in the gravels and kicking up dust as I went.

**The End. **

**Of chapter 7, that is. :-) Now, to answer some of my reviewers' burning questions....**

**~Never fear. The Cullens WILL appear in this story. As you can tell, we're about at the end of New Moon in this chapter, and I'm not sure when I'll have the Cullens come in. Maybe at the newborn/Victoia battle. I'm not sure. But they will be in here. **

**~The "Alaska" chapter is something i'm not 100% sure about yet. I have a lot more plot line after that chapter, so i don't know how long I'm going to drag the story out before it. I'm trying to stay as in canon as possible, so don't expect it at least until after the events in Breaking Dawn. **

**~You will learn everything there is to know about the Guardians. Just not until after the "Alaska" chapter. Again, I want this story to be as plausible and in canon as possible, so I'm trying to drag it out. Plus, I don't want it to be like "they meet and they fall in love and tragedy strikes and they win and then live happily ever after." That's not how life is, and that's not how this story will be {even thought it DOES include mystical beings :-)}**

**So...sorry for the long a/n, but I hope this info. helps! if not, leave me your questions in a review, because that's the only way i'll get them. I suck at checking my e-mail. Thanks again you guys!**

**~darkgoddess**


	9. Chapter 8

**What's up, guys? I'm back! i just wanted to let you guys know that this will be your favorite chapter so far. There's a nice surprise for you guys in this one. ;-) Thanks SO MUCh to all you reviewers. You guys are so awesome that I neglected my research paper that's due in three days to post this for you. I'm not going to answer any of your questions at the end of this chapter because, honestly, I don't have time. And don't expect another update until the weekend, at the very earliest. I have a TON of homework this week, and school has to come first. So, this a/n is really long and stupid. Onward! Enjoy Chapter Ocho!!!**

**Disclaimer: I ain't Stephanie Meyer. Unfortunately.**

I'm pretty sure I almost fishtailed as I sped down the Merran's driveway. Lindsay had texted me saying she was having another family crisis and needed me to meet her at Danielle's house. I just knew that her grandfather had died, and fight or no fight I was going to be there for her.

I was surprised she'd wanted to meet at Dani's, but I brushed it off, guessing it was because Danielle's parents were never home, so we'd have it to ourselves.

I parked on the steep hill behind Lindsay's car, throwing my emergency brake on as I hopped down to the gravels, hearing them crunch loudly beneath my sneakers. Pocketing my keys and cell phone, I rushed to the front door and began frantically ringing the doorbell. The door was jerked open and before I could say anything, I was yanked into the house. I whipped around, staring a glowering Lindsay in the face.

"Lindsay!" I said as I threw my arms around her neck. "What happened? Was it your grandpa? Are you alright?"

She pushed me off of her and marched towards the cellar stairs, stomping down them and hollering out for me to follow her. Of course I did as I was told, trailing behind her like a little lost puppy. As I made it to the cool atmosphere of the Merran's finished basement, I noticed a single wooden chair in the middle of the room, placed between the two couches and in front of the television, with a bright light hanging above it. Confusion set in, and before I could even open my mouth I was shoved into it from behind by someone I hadn't even known was there.

I looked up warily at my assailant, sucking in a deep breath of relief as I saw that it was only Danielle.

But then I noticed the duct tape in her hands, and confusion found its way to the forefront of my mind again.

"What in the world is going on here? I got your message and you said something was wrong but now I'm really starting to think that something's up and-"

I never got to finish my little Fake Kim rant, because Lindsay had promptly ripped the tape from Dani's hands and proceeded to place a large strip of it over my mouth. I tried to scream at her, but all that came out were these weird mumbles. I wasn't afraid of them, not in the least, but I figured they thought I would be, so Fake Kim put on a good show.

"Don't have an aneurism, Kim. We're just staging an intervention," Lindsay said. I made a sound that resembled "intervention?" and Lindsay gave me a pointed stare.

"You know exactly why we're doing this. You started this mess. And you deserted us!"

I felt like screaming her, but the duct tape was blocking my mouth, and my hands were- free. My hands were free! Why on earth did I still have the stupid duct tape on my mouth if my hands were free to pull it off? So I ripped it off quickly, standing up to confront her.

"There are several things wrong with that statement, Linds. First of all, you started all this by implying that I wasn't GOOD enough for Jared. Second, you slapped me first! And third, YOU deserted ME. Who was the one apologizing and calling and trying to salvage this freaking friendship? It certainly wasn't you. And Danielle!" I said, turning towards her. "You don't even have anything to do with our little spat! I don't care that you're hanging out with her, but you just left me. After all the times I've been there to 'counsel' you after your boyfriend misadventures and your family problems, and you just leave me."

"It didn't look like you needed us too much, Kimbo! You had Adonis and his brother hanging all over you! Which by the way, have you even HEARD any of the awful stuff people are saying about you?"

"It's not like I can't be friends with all of you guys at the same time! And there's a lot more to them than the way they look. Since you guys haven't been hanging around me, they've pretty much become my only friends! And don't even say anything about me doing any sexual favors for them, Lindsay, because you know how much I value my virginity! And to answer your question, Dani, yes I DO know what everyone's saying about me. I also know what you guys AREN'T saying."

"What do you mean, 'what we aren't saying'?" Lindsay spoke up this time.

"I mean, you guys hear people calling me a whore and all that other shit, and you don't say anything! Not a word. So neither one of you can say anything to me about loyalty."

We all entered into a weird three-way staring contest: me pitted against the both of them. And I burst out laughing. Dani joined me, but Lindsay just stood there scowling.

"Oh, come on, Linds. You have to admit that this was pretty funny. You guy set up an interrogation room in the least scary basement ever to exist. And you forget to tie my hands, and…" I couldn't even continue, I was laughing so hard.

She finally cracked a smile, and I pulled her into a hug. "You know the sick and twisted thing, Linds? I'm happy that you brought me here to botch up an interrogation. I thought someone had died or something."

She hugged me back, and Dani wrapped her arms around the both of us as we stood there laughing hysterically, attempting to stutter out apologies, which only caused us to laugh harder. Man, I loved these girls.

"We're completely retarded, guys. How stupid is this whole situation? All over some dumb guy." I bristled a little at Dani's word, because to me Jared was a lot more than some dumb guy, but I brushed it off, knowing better than to say anything. "Come on, you two. I'm starving."

"You're always starving, Dan," Lindsay chuckled.

"I know. So what? I'm hungry, so let's go."

I followed them both up to the kitchen, watching as they shuffled around, pulling things out of the fridge.

"You want something, Kimbo?"

"No thanks. I ate at Emily's." Oops. Lindsay faced twitched, but she covered it up quickly.

"Isn't that Sam Uley's girlfriend? I heard she's a total home wrecker. Sam and Leah Clearwater dated for like, four years, and they even talked about getting married. Then SHE came along. She's Leah's cousin, you know."

"She isn't like that at all, Dani. She's really nice, and she's an AWESOME cook. I'll have to take you guys over there some time."

"How are you going to take us over there? You hardly even know her."

"She said it was cool, Linds. She said she got lonely because all of those guys hang around over there with Sam all the time and-"

"And I'm guessing by 'all those guys' you mean Jared, too, right?"

"So what if I do, Lindsay?"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, Kimbo. You're one of my best friends, and I love the crap out of you."

"Umm, thanks?" I said, somewhat weirded out by her choice of words. "But seriously, Linds, I think you'd really like them if you gave them a chance. They're all good guys, and even Paul is nicer than he tries to let everyone believe. Although, he is still pretty annoying."

"I don't know Kim. It's just, we've spent our entire lives on the outside looking in. And now, suddenly, you're hanging around with La Push royalty. It's not like that's a bad thing, but you do have to admit something's a little fishy about all them. The people hanging around Sam have all missed at least a couple week of school except for that one underclassman kid, Jake. And then they show up with shorter hair and looking like they're on anabolic steroids. My mom thinks they're all behind those attacks in the woods, and the elders are just covering things up 'cause some of the kids who are involved have pretty hardcore Quileute bloodlines."

" Do you agree with your mom, Linds?"

"I don't know what to think, Kim. I guess…well, if it means so much to you that I get to know these people then I will. But I'm not making any promises."

"Thanks, Linds. I mean it." I smiled sheepishly at her, and laughed again when Dani's stomach rumbled loudly.

"So, Linds, how 'bout them leftovers?" she said, in her really awkward Kyra Sedgwick impression or whatever it was.

We all gathered around the little island in Danielle's kitchen, sitting in the high stools in a triangle, talking about nonsense and arguing over trivial things. It was if the past month had never happened. After they finished eating, I called my mom to inform her of my whereabouts and my plans to sleep over, and we each snuggled into a chair downstairs with a pint of Ben and Jerry's, watching the all-night marathon of Law and Order.

I don't exactly remember when I fell asleep, but I was awakened by the sound of my phone going off around 3:30 that morning. As the song by Linkin Park that I'd chosen as Jared's ringer I.D. blared in my ear, I scrambled to flip open my phone, berating myself when I realized that I'd forgotten to call him. He was probably freaking out, thinking I'd been sucked dry by vamps or something of the like.

I opened it in a hurry, and said hello quickly, flushing with embarrassment at the raspy quality of my voice.

"Kim! Thank God! I thought you were…dead."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I kind of just fell asleep in Danielle's basement."

"I was really worried when you didn't call, Kim. Don't ever do that to me again." His voice had an urgent tone, and if I hadn't have known better, I would've thought he was angry with me. But he could never be angry with me, so I knew he was just overreacting.

"Okay. I won't" He may have been overreacting, but Fake Kim was still a sucker for it. Or maybe Real Kim was. I couldn't tell anymore.

"I know I woke you up and everything, but I was wondering if you would maybe meet me outside? I need to talk to you. It's kind of important."

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Are you outside her house right now?"

"No. I'm actually at Sam's place. I was gonna crash here for the night, but some things kind of happened tonight and I couldn't sleep."

"What kind of things? Are they things that you can't talk to me about yet?" I had some idea of what had happened tonight. I don't know how, but for the past few days I'd been sensing some kind of presence when I reached out with my powers, and I assumed it was a vampire. They'd probably chased after it tonight, and I briefly wondered if they caught it, but was interrupted when he answered.

"I was actually hoping to do that with you tonight, Kim. I know it's late and everything, but I don't think this is something I can keep from you anymore."

Gargantuan mutant butterflies began gnawing at my innards as soon as I registered what he'd said. This was it. Tonight was going to be the night and there would be no turning back.

"Umm…sure. I mean, of course I'll meet you. When will you be here?" I wished silently that it would take him awhile so that I could prepare myself, but I knew that that wouldn't be the case.

"Well, I could be there in two seconds if you wanted. But it'll probably be more like two minutes."

Two. Minutes. As in two minutes. As in one hundred and twenty seconds. As in one-thirtieth of an hour. As in how long it takes me to microwave a slice of pizza.

It would take the same amount of time for him to get here and begin the rest of our lives as it would for me to heat up a snack.

The gargantuan mutant butterflies hit a growth spurt just then. I gulped loudly, and I'm sure he heard. My cheeks reddened as I became embarrassed once again.

"O-okay," I managed to stutter out. I didn't like this weak, stupid Kim. And this was the REAL Kim, for crying out loud! I was supposed to be tough and powerful and what not, but this boy turned me into a bubbling pile of goop.

"Okay, then." He sighed. "I'll call you when I get there. I don't want you outside by yourself." Then he hung up, and I shook my head, clearing it, and grabbed Lindsay's shoulder.

She jumped, startled, and mumbled something along the lines of "chocolate kills polar pandas." She then glanced at the clock, and turned to glare at me.

"What do you WANT, Kim? It's almost four in the morning," she grumbled lowly.

"I know. I just wanted to let you know that I'm…going out for a while."

"What?! Why? You did hear me when I said it's almost four in the morning, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. But I just need to…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say to her. We'd just gotten back onto friendly terms, and I didn't want to push it with her by telling her I was meeting Jared.

My phone rang again, alerting me that Jared was here. Had it really been two minutes already? I glanced down at the sweatpants and too-small, ratty softball t-shirt I'd borrowed from Danielle, groaning as I took in how crappy I looked.

"You look fine, Kimbo. Go out there and meet him. Just make sure he wears a raincoat." How did she know? And why would he need a rain-oh!

"Lindsay! How could you imply something like that?" I whispered playfully.

"To answer your unasked question, I knew he was here because I can see him through the window." I was wondering if she was a mind-reader as I looked over to where she was pointing. Sure enough, Jared was standing on the top of the hill, waiting halfway between the house and the woods, staring at her back door with his cell phone pressed to his ear.

"And second, I only said that because if there was a mega-hottie calling me in the middle of the night to hang out, I'd be jumping his bones."

I laughed lightly, giving her a chaste kiss on the forehead and telling her to go back to sleep.

"Finally," she said, rolling over and burying her face in the arm of the couch once again. I stepped over Dani, who was in a sleeping bag on the floor, and slipped my sneakers on. I turned off the television before I quietly jogged up the stairs. I threw my wispy hair that mom refused to let me cut into a messy bun, and slid out the back door, making sure it was locked before I turned to face Jared.

He waved at me, and I jogged over to him, feeling the dew that had begun to gather on the thick grass dampening the bottom of my pants. He caught me off guard as he embraced me, fiercely capturing me in the warmth of his bare arms and chest.

"Hi."

"Hi," he replied, pulling away, but not too much, staring into my eyes. He grabbed my hand and began leading me towards the driveway.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know. I thought we could go to Emily's. You might take the news better if she and Sam were there. Plus, I don't want to hurt you if I…if something goes wrong."

"I trust you, Jared. If you'd rather tell me alone, then we could do that." I desperately wanted him to tell me what he was going to tell me alone. I had no desire to have to hide everything I knew from two more people when he told me. It was going to be hard enough not to help him out as he struggled along.

"Okay. If you're sure. If that's what you want."

"Yeah. Plus, it's kind of late. They're probably asleep."

"I didn't think of that. But I don't think Sam would mind."

"Probably not, but I think maybe it should just be us. Besides, there are some things that I need to talk to you about, too." Like, for instance, how I wanted to have his children, but I figured I'd probably have to tone that down a bit.

"Oh. That's right. I've been so nervous about this moment that I kind of forgot. Sorry."

"No harm, no foul," I said.

He smiled down at me as he veered towards the woods. "If we're going to do this alone," he said, "then I have something I want to show you first." We walked a short ways into the woods before he stopped in a small opening. I noticed his hesitation, and I felt sympathetic as he took in a shaky breath in an attempt to calm himself.

"Stay right here, Kim. Don't move. And more importantly, don't be afraid." He turned to move a bit deeper into the woods but stopped and faced me again. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Maybe I should tell you first, or…gah!" His hands flew up into his hair as he yanked on the ends. He looked back to me and I saw a kind of serenity flood his eyes as he gazed into mine. His hands when back to his pockets and his eyes began to dart between the ground and the trees behind me.

"Do you know about the tribe legends, Kim?" I feigned confusion.

"Uh, yes," I said, knitting my brows together and pressing my lips into a thin line. "Why do you ask?"

"What if I told you…gosh, this is so stupid. I can't even say it! Why can't I say it?"

"It'd okay, Jared," I said, taking a step towards him. "You can tell me anything, remember? I'm not going anywhere."

He crossed the expanse of land between us quickly, taking my hands into his much larger ones. "You promise, Kim? Can you promise me that?" His voice was pleading, and my resolve to keep my secret almost crumbled.

"Ye-yes. I promise, Jared. I'm here. I'll always be here." I couldn't help but notice how romantic my words sounded as I uttered them. And to prove my point, without thinking, without worrying about what Fake or Real Kim would do or who was who or any of the other meaningless crap I had stressed over for more than half my life, I threw my arms around his neck for the second time, and without the slightest hesitation, I took his top lip between both of mine and kissed him.

This time, though, no one pulled away. No one stopped or hesitated and it was just me and him-just Kim and Jared-the way I've been imagining us ever since I knew there would be an us someday.

He lifted me off the ground enthusiastically, and I could feel his smile, could feel him beaming as if everything in his life was perfect. I knew everything in my world was perfect.

Scratch that. Everything in OUR world was perfect. From the moment I pulled away for air and rested my nose against his chin, I knew that that wouldn't change. And for the first time in my entire life, I felt the Fake Kim fade away into nothing. I felt a piece of her break off of me with each breath I sucked in, with each rise and fall of his chest.

And for the first time, I was one whole person. I was Real Kim. And while I knew it wouldn't be able to last, at least for now, I was perfectly content with being the real me I just this moment.

"That's what I wanted to tell you," I whispered to him when I finally found my voice.

"You can tell me that anytime. It would actually be preferable if you never stopped." We both laughed, and I groaned as he pulled away from me. "I'll only be a second," he murmured against my lips before pecking them quickly. "Don't be afraid. I promise I won't hurt you." I nodded eagerly, staying rooted to the spot as he disappeared into the darkness. I heard a faint pop and felt a ripple run through my aura as he phased.

As soon as he stepped around the large tree directly in front of me, I felt the dynamic of our relationship change immediately. I looked into his eyes, my own widening significantly, and then at the rest of his massive body. I had known what he was, but I had never expected him to be this- beautiful. He was a deep brown color, and I was pleased to see that his eyes had only grown bigger. Their color had not changed.

"Jared?"

He nodded his huge head up and down slowly, and I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"You look-beautiful." I could tell that this wasn't the response he was expecting, probably because I wasn't screaming or running away in horror. His head drooped in what I figured was relief, and he began to do this weird coughing thing that I took for laughter.

I joined in, staring at him strangely and asked, "What's so funny?"

He shook his head, calming down, as he began to approach me slowly. The signs of laughter slid off of my face, but my smile remained. I reached my arms out to him, beckoning him to come towards me. "I'm not afraid, Jar."

I saw his body relax and he trotted forwards, sinking down a few feet in front of me. I kneeled by his face, rubbing his muzzle. He let out a low whine from the back of his throat, and he nuzzled my face. We hadn't been sitting there long before he got up and walked back into the dense foliage. I heard another pop, and Jared the human stepped back into the small clearing we'd been standing in.

We stood staring at each other for a while before he finally broke the silence.

"So, what d'ya think?"

"I don't know. It's sort of weird finding out that the legends aren't, well, legends." I hated that I had to lie to him, but it was necessary. I couldn't tell him that I knew, because then I'd have to explain why I knew. And then Jared would know, and what Jared knew, the pack knew. And what the pack knew was subject to be known by the Volturi, which was something I couldn't afford for them to have at their disposal.

"Yeah. I guess it'll take a while, but you reacted better than I thought you would. The pack was taking bets on how you'd take the news."

"Pack? As in, group of overgrown dogs?"

"Yeah," he said, chuckling. "I guess you could say that."

"So, are there any other secrets I need to know about?"

"Well, we can all hear each others' thoughts when we're in wolf form. And we heal and run really fast. I'm super strong. And I hunt vampires, which is what I was doing tonight."

"Well that all came out fast."

"I know. Sorry."

"So you fight vampires, huh? That sounds…fun." I know I sounded really nonchalant, but I figured everyone had to react differently, and this was easier than trying to pretend to freak out.

"You're really taking this all very well. Looks like Paul won the pot."

"So Paul was the one who bet I'd be okay with this. I'll be honest, that kind of surprises me."

"It surprised me, too. But you surprised me even more tonight. You asked me what was so funny earlier? Well, I've been nervous to the point of puking almost all day, worried that you'd reject me or call the cops or the loony bin or something. But I was worried most that you'd reject me. I don't think I could handle that."

"Why?" I wanted him to say it, so I could "know" and we could talk about it and have it out in the open.

"Well," he started, "this part worries me a little, too. Because I'm not sure how you're gonna react to this part, either."

I sat down on a log that was behind me and he squatted in front of me. I took his face in my hands and whispered, "I told you I wasn't going anywhere. And I think I've more than proved that tonight."

He looked into my eyes for a moment and kissed me again. I could get used to that. I may already have been.

"You've heard of imprinting, right?"

"Yes. And…you did it on me?" It came out as more of a question, and I figured that this would be okay for me to say, considering all the other questions he'd asked me tonight had turned into what they had.

He laughed, kissing me again, and said, "You're making this entirely too easy…princess."

I groaned, and stored away a little mind-post-it note to kick Paul's ass when my secret was out.

"So I guess you know the story behind that?"

"I pretty much know the whole story of your's and Paul's outing yesterday."

I dropped my head, mortified, but he tilted my chin back up and kissed me yet again.

"Don't be embarrassed. I think Mrs. Kim Talon kind of has a nice ring to it, too."

I almost took a page out of Lindsay's book and had my way with him right there. But I settled for some not-so-chaste, full-fledged making out instead.

**There you have it! Chapter 8! And my longest one yet, might i add. Hope you enjoyed it! R&R {por favor?} **

**~darkgoddess**


	10. Chapter 9

**Happy Spring everyone! (or, to those of you who don't live in the U.S., happy whatever-season-it-is-in-your-country-right-now...)I'm SO sorry it's took me this long to update. I've had so much homework that I've barely had time to sleep, and unfortunately school MUST come before fanfiction. Enough of my excuses, though. I now give you Chapter NINE! Keep in mind that it kind of occurs over a long time frame (about 2 months, i think). If you have any questions, leave them in a review and I will try to reply to a few either in an e-mail or at the end of next chapter. Now...enjoy chapter nine!! And, as always, I ask you to please review. I love your feedback!**

**Disclaimer: I'm NOT Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing but the plot and a couple characters. **

* * *

I'm almost positive that I saw a few heads explode at school the next Monday when Jared and I walked into the building with our hands tightly clasped. I'm positive with one hundred percent certainty that Lauren Burke looked like she wanted to kill me, and that, if given the chance, she would make it very slow and very painful. I'm thinking she'd start by strapping me into a chair and pulling back by thumbnails with a pair of tweezers, but with her it would be impossible to predict. She may also just lock me in her neon/hot/electric pink room and read Cosmo to me for four days straight. The latter would be least preferable.

But I'm pretty sure that's what she would go for, considering she thought that I was a home wrecker. And by home wrecker I mean I'm holding hands with the guy she dated for three weeks our junior year of high school.

None of the stares mattered, though. None of the whispers or the comments or the pointing did, either. It seemed like a very natural thing to be doing, this hand-holding of ours, and I didn't really care what everyone else thought of it.

Sure, I knew this was moving fast, and that he'd known I'd existed for less than two months. I knew that I probably should've pretended to be more freaked out when he told me about his hidden life, and how I was involved in it. I mean, it's not every day that some guy you've been sort-of-friends with for a few weeks comes in the middle of the night to your best friend's house unannounced and drags you off into the woods, only to tell you that the mythical creatures you hear at the tribal bonfires and as a kid before bedtime are real. It's even more uncommon for said guy to proceed to explode into a mammoth-sized wolf, and tell you that you are his soul mate, his one and only, his life, and so on and so forth.

But I couldn't help it. Feminists the world over would cringe just from hearing this, myself semi-included, but when I looked at him, when I saw him staring at me with such…adoration and longing and love in his eyes…I knew that I needed to be with him. I needed to be with him and it was imperative for my sanity and my life that I was. So I heartily accepted him right off the bat. I would never know how I would've reacted to this information if I was just a normal human, if I hadn't known everything (and more) before hand. But what I did know was that I wouldn't be able to stay away from him, so I made it easy on the both of us and just let him know that it didn't bother me, and that I wanted to be with him, too.

People would just have to get used to it. They certainly wouldn't be able to change anything, because I was in too deep and Jared didn't really have a choice.

Now, Jared not really having a choice bothered me at first, and did so for awhile until my grandmother had sat down and put things into perspective for me. Neither me nor Jared would ever be able to find anyone better for ourselves than each other, and wasn't the whole point of life to be happy, and to find the one person out there who can complete you? As a newly-teenaged girl, I didn't really understand all this, but now as an-almost adult, I appreciated it more. I'd since decided that imprinting was one of the many ways that fate has of bringing a pair of people together, and let the issue fade into nothing.

Jared surely didn't seem to be the least bit perturbed about being bound to me, because every day of the next two months after our little conversation in the woods had been spent with him being as close to me as he could possibly get. On weekdays at school, he'd have his arm draped around the back of my chair or his hand resting on my knee during first period. During third period he'd taken the seat next to me that was normally occupied by Cheyenne Eads without asking, but no one was really going to question him, either. Our friends meshed into one of the larger tables at lunch. The first time this happened, I was positive that Dani was going to faint from all the hot-lookingness. And even Lindsay looked a bit peaked when Paul commented on her AC/DC shirt, then began to sing "Shoot to Thrill", her favorite song on the "Back in Black" album.

He'd wait for me after fourth period and I'd drive him home on the days he ran to school from a morning patrol. When he wasn't working for Sam, he was over at my house or I was hanging around at his. I'd become his confidant after that Saturday night, and I knew all about the goings-on of the pack, like the oddity that was Leah Clearwater, how they'd killed a bloodsucker who had tried to make Bella Swan its meal, and the other vampire they were chasing who wanted to kill Bella, too. I felt bad for the girl, especially after hearing how Sam had found her in the woods when her leech-boyfriend left her last year, and now another leech had a vendetta against her; something about getting revenge for the death of her mate or whatever.

Some major events had happened, too. Harry Clearwater had died, and Sam thought it was because both of his kids being werewolves had taken its toll on him, especially after Leah turned, and he had a weak heart, anyway. The funeral was extremely depressing, and it reminded me all too much of when my grandmother had died. This time, though, it wasn't too much of a personal loss for me, but I still sympathized with the two Clearwater kids. I couldn't imagine losing my dad at such a young age.

The Cullens were dragged back into town by Bella Swan, too, which had everyone on red alert. I'd been over at Emily's gossiping and watching her make cookies when three angry men barged through the door.

"Why couldn't they just stay gone, huh? Why'd she have to go and bring them back here? Things were better, not as much patrol…" Paul was cut off abruptly by Jared.

"Not to mention we already have enough on our plate trying to get rid of the redhead."

"It's like she doesn't even care how much work we're already doing for her!" Paul said. "The ungrateful-"

"PAUL!" This time it was alpha Emily (notice how it wasn't alpha Sam) who interjected, which basically shut the two subordinates of her boyfriend up for good.

"You're not just protecting Bella," she began. "You're protecting your tribe. And if the love of your life had gone off to kill themselves because they thought you were dead, wouldn't YOU want to go and save them?" She looked pointedly at Sam and Jared, who suddenly looked ashamed. Paul had snorted, saying how glad he was he hadn't been bound to some chick and whipped into a pussy. The smirk was wiped off his face when his alpha and beta turned toward him menacingly.

"I'm just worried about how many more kids are going to join our ranks," Sam said. "It's already bad enough that we have eight. I don't want to see more of us succumb to this."

Emily looked up at him sadly, and Jared had just kind of stood there staring at me. Paul, though, laughed at Sam's words.

"This isn't a disease, Uley. I don't see what's so bad about it. I mean, we're strong, and fast, and we get to kill vamps. And it brought you to Emily."

I could see a kind of pain flash through Sam's eyes at Paul's words, and I felt sorry for him. Yes, he'd ended up with Emily, the most amazing and kind woman that I'd ever met, but at a price. It was probably a price he'd be willing to pay again, but we all knew how miserable it had made him to have to hurt Leah. I almost couldn't believe that Paul had brought it up.

The look on Sam's face seemed to remind him of this, too, and he apologized for his little outburst.

The month of May had been one of the most eventful of my life, which was somewhat sad since I didn't really do much but worry and attempt to use my powers to check on my new second family and Jared when they patrolled. I also made it my business to check on Emily and Bella every once in awhile, as well. The most strenuous of this work that I'd done was the night the pack and the Cullens had had a minor spat over the boundary after someone crossed.

Every night before I went to bed I felt around the rez for anything unusual, mostly because of the recent attacks that had been occurring in Seattle, and one Saturday, the nineteenth, I think, had been no exception. I had just slung my pajama bottoms on when I felt my senses heighten, almost as if an alarm had been triggered, and I could feel the tension spreading out from a certain area. I'd woken up my parents to let them know I had something to go check on, and they hadn't even questioned me, probably because they'd gotten so used to my trances and resulting activities over the course of the previous month.

I walked about a mile into the woods, spreading out a small shield around myself so as not to be detected. I sat down cross-legged in a spot I'd cleared of brush and leaves, and stayed that way for the next half-hour until I was certain that nothing was going to happen between the pack and the vampire coven. I then quietly returned back to my house just in time to find Jared walking up my driveway.

I didn't have time to get in my house without him noticing, so I hurried to think of an explanation to give him as to why I was in the backyard in the middle of the night. I began walking towards him, and when I called out a "hey, you" at him, he leapt into a defensive position, not realizing it was me.

"Woah. Easy there, Cujo!" I said, throwing my hands up in surrender. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then his face contorted into a more angered one as he noticed that I was outside alone in the dark.

"Kimberley Jenae! What are you doing out here?! It's the middle of the night! It's dangerous out here! What if something would have happened to you and I hadn't been here to protect you, huh? What then? What if a bloodthirsty vamp jumped out from the woods and attacked you? What is WRONG with you?!"

I hoped my stare was icy enough to reflect the wave of indignation that bubbled underneath my skin. How dare he insinuate that I couldn't take care of myself? Didn't he know-oh. That's right. He DIDN'T know what I was. At least, not really.

Whatever. It still didn't give him the right to act like he was my father.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, Jared. Why don't you enlighten me, seeing as how you're a smartass?"

At least he had the decency to look ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Kimbo, it's just- some things happened to night that have me on edge anyways, and when I thought of you out here all alone-"

"I'm not a little kid, Jared."

"But you don't understand what those," he paused, allowing a tense silence to cross over us before he hissed, "those _things_…are capable of."

"So now I'm stupid, huh? Just because I don't kill the things on a regular basis doesn't mean I don't know how dangerous they are." I probably knew that better than him, actually.

"I'm not saying you're stupid, Kim. You're the smartest person I know! But what I am saying is that you've never seen one up close before, not a non-veggie vamp, anyway, and you don't know what it's like to look into their evil red eyes knowing they want to kill people, and probably would prefer it be someone you cared about. I just don't want to see you get hurt, Kim. I can't lose you, not ever, and certainly not to a vampire."

My countenance had softened some, but I was still a bit affronted at the way he'd just started yelling at me. Of course I knew that he didn't know just how well I would be able to protect myself if a situation ever called for it, but how aware I was of the fact that my capabilities gave me the upperhand didn't really help my ability to understand his point of view. I had it in my head that I was invincible, and I sort of was, but he didn't know that. It still didn't make me feel any less underestimated, or feel any better about it, for that matter. While I wouldn't be able to tell him this for awhile, I'm sure even if he'd known he would've still yelled at me. Stupid overprotective werewolf soul mate.

Needless to say we'd made up after our little spat well before we passed out in my bed just before four on Sunday morning. It's moments like that that make me glad to have parents who stopped caring what (or who) I did after they realized I'd do what I wanted to, anyways.

* * *

I decided somewhere between stubbing my toe and bruising a wrist that perhaps Monday morning came too early. I shuffled around my room, half asleep and partially blind, trying to squint to protect my eyes from the harsh glare being put off by the lamp next to my bed, all the while attempting to pretend that it was twelve in the afternoon and that I hadn't gotten only three hours of sleep.

Jared had come to my house in the middle of the night on Sunday and whisked me away to Emily's on the pretense that Paul had caught the fresh scent of that red-headed psycho vamp who kept alluding them. Apparently she knew about the boundary line somehow, and took turns dancing along that and pretending to be Jesus by running along the water, or something like that. Anyway, I ended up spending two hours of Sunday night and four of the wee-hours of Monday morning sitting at Emily's kitchen table watching her bake. She told me it was how she dealt with the stress, then commented on how she was jealous that I could be so calm. I was disappointed in myself that I had passed up an opportunity to act normal, but as it was several hours past my bedtime, I only cared for about twenty-three seconds before becoming apathetic again.

Four weary werewolves trudged through the door around four-thirty; Embry had gone before his mother woke up so he didn't get in trouble, Seth and Jake were still out patrolling, and Leah was, well, being anti-social Leah. I fell asleep on Jared's shoulder while watching Emily pass out her homemade treats, and didn't wake again until I felt myself being tucked into bed and a warm pair of lips pressing into my forehead. I mumbled out what I was sure was an inaudible "I love you," and barely noted the alarm clock flashing five o'clock as I passed out again.

So, like I said, this morning had her period pants on, and I could already tell she was going to be a bitch.

I noticed Jared pulling up my drive-way around a quarter till nine, fifteen minutes before school started. I briefly wondered why he was here, mostly because I refused to receive rides from him to LPHS. This was mostly because he lived on the other side of the rez, but also because I was in love with my Jeep. I bounded down the stairs in my oldest and most comfortable pair of ripped jeans, throwing on my gray QTS hoodie and sneakers as I hurriedly stuck my arm out to force my book bag from the living room to the kitchen. I barely had time to coax a bottle of orange juice out of the fridge before Jared burst through the front door.

"KIM! What are you doing?"

"Umm, getting ready to leave for school. What are YOU doing?"

"We don't have school today, Kim."

"What are you talking about, Jar? It's Monday. Last time I checked, we usually have school on Mondays. And my mom already left for Forks to go to work, so I KNOW we have school." My mother was a teacher over at Forks High School. QTS was so small that they couldn't take her on when she first graduated college with a teaching degree, and she'd gotten lucky when some old bag lady had to retire from over at Forks. She started working there three years before she and my dad had me, and liked it so much she kept making the commute into town everyday from the rez.

"Not today, we don't. There's some kind of council meeting going on in the gym today. You're seriously telling me that you, Miss Responsible, forgot that we didn't have school today?"

"Are you kidding me right now? Because if you are, then I'm going to neuter you."

He cringed away from me slightly, then started to laugh. "Ouch, Kimbo. Harsh, much?"

I glared at him, hiking my back pack farther up on my shoulder. "Do we seriously not have school today?"

"Kim, we SERIOUSLY don't have school. Why do you think I'm here?" I drew my lips into a thin line and walked over to the calendar my mom kept on the desk just off the foyer.

Sure enough, it said 'Kim-No School.' I groaned, then began to contemplate how I could get to Jared to let me go back to sleep for another, oh, fourteen hours.

"You didn't answer my question, babe." I blushed a bit at his new name for me, one that I had only recently received the Saturday night after a long, intense make-out session which left even him with more than one love bruise on his neck.

"I don't know, kitten, why ARE you here?" Torturing him was fun.

"Kim, I love you, but really, first you try to emasculate me LITERALLY, and now 'kitten'?" He spit the word out like it had burned his tongue. I just laughed at him as he rustled my hair up and began to scrounge through my mom's pantry.

"And-hmm, this looks good- I'm here because-what's that?- I missed (grunt) you last night and I wanted to-mmm-take you some-oww!-where."

Although I had no idea what kind of obstacles he had just faced in our little food closet, he emerged with a box of Stove Top stuffing mix, grinning triumphantly.

I rolled my eyes, and asked, "So you wanted to take me somewhere, huh? Where?"

"I'm SOOO glad to hear that you missed me too, Kimbo!" I rolled my eyes again, and looked at him expectantly.

"Man, I feel so loved right now!"

"JARED!"

"Fine, okay, geez. Put your pants back on. Wait, on second thought, don't! I think that would make for a much more interesting date."

"A date? We're going on a date?"

"You say that like we've never been on one before."

"Because we haven't."

"We haven't?"

"Nope."

"Wow, Kim, I've really never taken you on a date before! I'm such a schmuck." He dropped the stuffing onto the kitchen counter and slumped over in one of the bar stools.

"You're not a 'schmuck,' Jared, but you ARE starting to talk like Paul, again." I took his face into both of my hands and squeezed his cheeks in, causing his lips to pucker, and I took his bottom lip gently in between my teeth and stared into his eyes. Just as he pulled my hands away from his face, intertwined our fingers, and moved to kiss me, the back door burst open and a frazzled-looking Paul stumbled into the kitchen.

Jared hopped up immediately and I moved back some, allowing him enough space to pass by me and rush over to Paul.

"Is it the leech?" he asked, and rather loudly, might I add.

"No. No, it's Jake. He's goin' over to Forks High. He's gone to confront Cullen."

Ah, crap.

* * *

**So there you have it! Chapter nine, FINALLY! So review? Please? OH! and i know some of you thought the last chapter was kind of blunt. Hope this chap. helped explain why. If not, or if you have any other questions, hit the little green review button or e-mail me from my profile and i will try to give you an answer to the best of my ability. Again, hoped you enjoyed chapter nine...and review! I love reading all the awesome things you guys have to say...you're all very helpful... thanks! and have an awesome weekend!**

**~darkgoddess**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: First, I sincerely apologize for my lack of updating. Life gets in the way sometimes, but I GRADUATED (!!!) and it's summer, so I have more time to write. Next, this chapter kind of seems like a filler, but I put in a little bit of Kim doing her thing. I wrote several chapter 10s, but this sounded more like an appropriate way to a.) stick with the plot and b.) move along with the story. I lost motivation for awhile because I'm having a hard time writing a story that I already know the basic plot and ending too, so if you have any suggestions or requests to help me, by all means share them :-). So, without further adieu, here's chapter 10! I hope you enjoy! And please, R&R, whether you have questions or corrections. Thanks! **

**DISCLAIMER: I am not Stephanie Meyer and I don't own the Twilight Series. **

I sat in the middle of my bed cross legged, and with my eyes closed. I breathed in deeply as I pushed out my diaphragm, that little muscle in my upper abdomen that had grown thicker and stronger over the past however many years of me employing it to practice my magic. It wasn't getting used much lately because of all the time I'd been spending with Jared and everyone else, and what with the events in Seattle and Sam's declaration that it was most likely vampires, I felt like I needed to be in peak condition.

While I couldn't practice on big things, the best thing I'd come up with when I needed to do some serious exercises was waiting till the dead of night, unplugging everything in my room, and making sure it was pitch black and the blinds were closed so there were no witnesses. I'd center myself like I was doing now, then do a little push thingy from my middle and create a surge of energy all around me- enough to lift everything in my room, including my bed and dresser and bookshelf and whatnot. Adrenaline would rush through my veins and my skin would tingle. My brother also said my eyes turned into a blinding shade of white when I used my abilities, which is why I keep them closed now.

I couldn't help but think of what a great way this was to spend the night of my graduation. Jared was off doing things with his pack for the second night in a row after Bella put two and two together and figured out that Victoria was behind the Seattle murders. Jake and Embry and Quil, the Golden Trio of La Push who also happened to be stupid and rash, had gone to Bella's party with their guns blazing. Some kind of alliance had been made between them and the Cullens and now the emo one was training everyone to fight newborns.

I'd been so antsy because I wanted to go really badly, but of course I didn't tell Jared this. I channeled my inner Emily at the luncheon she'd put together for me, Jared and Paul. Everyone had basically eaten and crashed since they'd been out so late, so I just sort of glanced at her every so often to help pump myself up.

A short knock on my window halted me. I slowly lowered everything to floor with a soft thump. After glancing at my cell phone and noting that it was almost four in the morning, I made my way over to where the noise had come from, pulling the shade up after peeking under it and seeing Jared staring back at me.

"Kim." His voice sounded exhausted, but I recognized the hint of excitement there, too. He pulled me into a breathtaking hug, literally, and pressed his lips to my forehead.

"Hey, Jare. Long night?"

"You can say that again. I thought that leech was never gonna shut his death trap. Just 'cause he doesn't have to sleep doesn't mean the rest of us don't wanna catch any."

"You should be a little more considerate, y'know. I mean, the guy is just trying to help you after all."

"Hmph." I had a feeling that that was all I'd get from him tonight.

"C'mon, Oscar the Grouch. Let's get you to bed."

"Sesame Street? Seriously?"

"Shut up." He laughed quietly as I guided the both of us over to my bed. I threw a pair of the boxers he'd stashed in my drawer for times like these on top of him and went about plugging everything in my room back up to give him a little privacy.

"What'd you do all that for, Kimbo?"

"Huh? Oh. Sometimes I just like to get away from technology and have some meditation time."

"I thought you hated hippies."

"Well, I do, but I don't think having a moment of silent self-reflection should be restricted to the definition of hippie-ness."

"How do you use such big words this early in the morning? It isn't normal."

"Maybe not, but you still adore me."

"Mmm." He began to mumble into my hair as we lay there together in the dark.

"How's Quil?" Poor Quil had imprinted. But it was an imprint that had not only been very-unusual-but one that had been an epic piss-off to both Sam, Emily, and a couple of the elders. To cut to the chase, the guy had been tied to Emily's toddler niece. Everyone was shocked. Emily called me in tears because Sam had beaten the crap out of Quil. Then they both phased, and Sam was able to see how Quil felt about everything. The little girl's family wasn't so easy to convince, however.

"More like how's Claire's family. Emily finally talked her sister down, though, and they're gonna let Quil have heavily supervised visits."

"Claire seemed to really like him." It was true. She wouldn't let him put her down after Sam had allowed him back in the house and Emily felt comfortable enough to let him hold her.

"Yeah. I think it'd be impossible for her not to. Just like you can't resist me."

"Is that so?"

"Uh-huh." He threw his sweltering leg over mine and wound his finger into my hair as he buried his nose into my neck.

"Well, that may be so, but you're totally worse than me."

"And proud of it." He breathed in deeply and I giggled at the slight tickling sensation. "'Night, beautiful."

"Goodnight, Jare. Love you."

"Love you more."

* * *

I opened my eyes the next morning only to see Jared sitting in my desk chair, staring at me.

"Hey." I cringed at how hoarse I sounded.

"Morning, sunshine," he said with a smile in his voice. It didn't reach his eyes, though.

"What's wrong?"

"It's-it's nothing."

"Okay, now I KNOW it's something." I figured it had to do with the whole newborn situation but I couldn't pinpoint the problem-and I usually could.

He sighed and moved to sit next to me on the bed. "You know how much you mean to me right?"

"Jared, don't even start."

'Start what?!"

"I don't know. The…the conversation you have before you go off into danger and you're afraid that you're gonna-I can't even think it. Just-don't!"

"Kimberly, I know you don't, and neither do I, but-I just don't wanna take chances. I mean, I'm not scared like, at all, and I'm positive I'm gonna be alright."

"Then why bring it up, Jared, huh? Why worry me even more than I am?" Even though I knew the outcome was good it was still unsettling to think about him around THAT many vamps at once, especially since he'd never dealt with more than two at a time.

"I'm doing it to be safe, Kim. I just wanna make sure you know what I feel about you-how intense my love for you is."

And there he went with the sappy Harlequin novel talk. He was almost as bad as Paul and his fifties nonsense.

"Ditto, Jare. It goes both ways." Man, I was eloquent. "Can we talk about something else, now?"

"Like what?"

"Like what you guys are planning, where I'm going to be at, etc."

"Bella's leaving her scent all over the forest to confuse them since that's what they're looking for. Then she's camping out or something with Edward and us and the Cullens are gonna kill the newborns. You, my friend, are going to be at Emily's tomorrow night, and possibly the night after that, depending on how long this takes." Having to stay at Emily's was definitely going to pose a problem for me, but I'd worry about that later.

"So you're not worried, like, at all?"

"Nope. I'm not worried, like, at all." He smirked and I punched him in the arm lightly so as to keep my knuckles intact. The atmosphere immediately lightened up at our banter. He kissed me gently, and a frenzy soon began as I ran my tongue across his bottom lip and he laid me back, hovering over top of me.

"Wait, wait, wait," I whispered urgently as I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him off so I could reach into the drawer of the nightstand next to my bed.

"What?"

"Morning breath," I said, holding out a stick of gum for him and popping a piece of my own into my mouth.

He laughed, shoving the minty stuff into his mouth hastily. "Kim, you're ridiculous," he said, then proceeded to kiss me senseless.

* * *

I sat in Emily's kitchen the next night watching her pace back and forth. Sam sat at the head of the table, his gaze following her as she walked.

"Em, sweetie, we're gonna be just fine. Nothing's going to happen."

"You don't know that Samuel Levi Uley! You don't know that!" she screamed hysterically, pointing her finger at him accusingly.

I stood up and grabbed her shoulders so I could force her to look me in the eyes, ignoring Sam as he growled at me a little and Jared, too, when he warned his alpha with a growl of his own. "Emily, it's going to be okay. They're going to go out there, kick some ass, and be home for dinner, or maybe a late night snack. But they'll be home just the same." She burst into tears and I pushed her into Sam's lap, resuming my seat next to Jared and letting my head fall into my hands with a sigh.

"God, I'm such a mess," she said with a moan that was partially a sob.

"Don't worry about it, Emily," Paul said as he walked into the room. "Everyone here knows you're usually a badass." Typical Paulie.

"Shut UP Paul!"

"Geez, Sam. I was just trying to be helpful!"

"Well your services aren't needed, so go away." You could tell Emily's anxiety was putting Sam on edge. He was usually the picture of calm and collective.

I noticed the guys stiffen, and then heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," I said as I stood, attempting to be helpful, but Jared pushed me back into my chair.

"No you won't." I glared at him as he looked at Embry and nodded his head towards the door.

"Yes, master," I replied, but it fell on deaf ears as Carlisle and Esme Cullen walked into the small house.

Sam got up and noticeably pushed Emily behind him as he nodded at the newcomers. "Carlisle. Esme."

Esme stepped toward him with her hand outstretched. "Hello again. Sam. Nice to see you, although I wish it could be under better circumstances."

Sam shook her hand as Emily stepped around him. "Likewise, Mrs. Cullen. How are you?" The two women seemed to be cordial, and I assumed it was because Emily had started attending Esme's fundraisers for the hospital in Forks since she had become a prominent member of the Quileute tribe. Sam tensed as she enveloped the cold one into a hug.

"Well, dear, and yourself?"

"Nervous."

A soft tinkling sound filled the room as Esme laughed. "Understandable. I myself am nervous for my family, even though I know better. It's inevitable for us mother figures to worry, though." She looked towards me but Jared growled and I thought it would be best not to push his buttons.

"Well, Sam," said Carlisle, "Are you all ready to go?"

"Definitely."

"Good. I guess we'll head out to the meadow and set up camp. My boys are already there and Bella's all set with Edward. Jacob stayed with them."

"Alright. We'll head out and meet you there soon."

The two said their cordial goodbyes and left hurriedly. Emily turned and embraced Sam as some of the younger wolves made their way out the door to phase.

"Kim?" I turned to Jared and he looked like he was holding back tears, which of course put a lump in my throat.

"Don't you dare say anything to me other than you'll see me soon."

He chuckled, but it was forced. "Okay. I love you, Kimbo. So much. And I'll be back before you know it."

I sniffled a bit and buried my face in his chest. "Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon, Jared. Let's go."

We kissed deeply for a moment and then he gave me a couple of quick pecks before letting me go and walking towards the door.

"Hey, Jared?" He whipped around to face me.

"Hmm?"

"I love you more." He smiled at me and shook his head before Sam put his arm around Jared and led him out the door. Emily was at my side immediately, grabbing my hand. We stood there huddled together for a moment before Claire's muffled cries broke us out of our reverie.

Emily walked over and pulled the blanket out of her face, then scooped her up and began to rock her gently as her sister Tallin sat nose-deep in a coloring book at the coffee table.

I went to the kitchen and stood in front of the sink, placing my hands on the cool porcelain surface, contemplating my next move. I wasn't sure about a lot of things that would lead to tonight's outcome, but there was one thing of which I was certain.

I had twenty-four hours to come up with a way to sneak out of this house.

**There you have it! Hoped everyone enjoyed it! As always, if you have questions leave them in a review. Also, please review in general. It is greatly appreciated. **

**~darkgoddess**


	12. Chapter 11

**I feel like I haven't updated in forever! I blame having a hectic life and trying to prepare for my first year in college. :-) That's right. I'm not too prideful to make excuses for my procrastinating self. So, to sort of make up for it, this chapter is a little longer than my other ones. The more you review, the faster I right because I know what you guys like to read, and I know what I need to improve on instead of having to figure it out. And now, without any further delay, I give you chapter 11! Enjoy!! (and review...)**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I don't own Twilight, the Twilight Universe, or any of it's affiliates and characters.**

I briefly contemplated being in two places at once. I was quite sure that this was a plausible idea. My body would be here, probably in the back bedroom of Emily Young's humble dwelling, but my mind would be elsewhere- off in some forest meadow weaving in and out of friends and foes. I quickly realized, however, that there would be entirely too many bodies for this to be a safe route. I would be able to tell the difference between who I needed to save and who needed to be eliminated, but I was almost certain that things would be moving way too fast for me to get good bearings of any sort.

So I chose option b. I wasn't quite sure what this option entailed, exactly, but what I did know was that it involved me getting out of this house, both physically and mentally, and somehow getting to the site of the battle before it actually started. Getting there would prove to be my first challenge, because Brady and Collin were currently lying among the trees in the back yard, ready to keep any harm from coming our way- and to keep any of us from leaving. Not only this, but Emily was in the other room.

Alice had said that the fighting wouldn't begin until sometime tomorrow morning, so I still had time to come up with something.

For now, I walked back into the quaint living room where Emily was just putting in some kind of tween movie for Tallin. Claire had fallen asleep in Sam's shabby recliner, and a soft blanket had been neatly tucked around her small form. Em looked up eventually and nodded toward the kitchen, where she had a half-finished cup of lukewarm coffee sitting on the table and I had a liter of Mountain Dew calling my name from the fridge.

"You feeling any better, Em?" She looked a little calmer, but the way she rushed into the pantry to grab some ingredients for-something-told me that maybe she was still a little, or a lot, nervous.

"I always get like this when they have a job to do. I'm a little jealous of you, actually- Ms. Calm, Cool and Collected."

"I'm dyin' on the inside. Believe me." And I was, but not for the same reasons that she was nervous. "So what do you do, y'know, in times like these?"

"Bake." We laughed. "But here lately when they've caught any scents I've watched Claire, and she keeps me busy enough."

"So I guess her parents have decided to move here, then?"

"Yeah. They, uh, rented an apartment near upper First Beach for now. We're helping them move in next week. Maybe you and Jared could come by and help? I'd ask some of the other boys but I think it would be better if we didn't overwhelm Dena with all those rowdy kids running around." She pulled what looked like industrial-sized bowls and pans out from the cabinet under the toaster oven and set to work cracking eggs and measuring all kinds of powders and whatnot.

She went about her business as I leaned against the door frame nursing a large Styrofoam cup of soda. She would occasionally go into the living room to sit with the girls and sometimes I would lend her a hand putting stuff in the oven and washing pans.

As four in the morning turned into five, I heard Claire wake up in a coughing fit. Emily rushed over to her, rubbing the hair out of her face and wrapping the blanket back around her. "Poor thing," she said. "She's had a cold for the past couple of days. Kim, can you look in the third cabinet to the right of the fridge and get out the Dimetapp?"

"Sure," I replied, thinking nothing of it as I opened up the cabinet door, my eyes automatically beginning to scan the contents for the cough syrup. I located the medicine, but did a double take on another small bottle as the ideas began to churn in my head.

I pulled the dark bottle down and grabbed a medicine cup as an afterthought, pouring the recommended dose and getting the water-filled sippy cup from the fridge so Claire could have something to wash the bitter taste out of her mouth as I plotted my escape.

Six a.m. rolled around the corner and I quickly realized that this was now or never. If I never got out of the house, I figured it wouldn't be too disastrous, because as Jared had told me, a bunch of newborns would be no match for all of the wolves and the Cullens together. However, there was still no guarantee even with me, so I knew it had to be now, especially because there was a chance that Jared's life could be the one that ended up on the line. I looked out the window to see Brady and Collin standing on their haunches, ears cocked and listening for even the slightest indication of anything. I knew that I still had time because if something was going on, Sam would probably have them circling the house.

Both Claire and Tallin had fallen asleep in various places in the living room. Emily lay curled up in Sam's rocking chair, having moved Claire over to the love seat. She was sipping on what was probably her eighth cup of coffee when I suddenly realized what needed to be done.

"Fresh coffee, Em?" I said, closing the magazine I'd been browsing through and gulping down the last of the caffeinated drink I'd been chugging all night to stay awake. I walked over from my position at the kitchen table when she smiled up at me sleepily and nodded. I took the mug from her hands and walked over to the counter, waiting for her to turn her head back to the television so I could grab the sleeping pills out of the medicine cabinet without her noticing. I dumped the cold drink into the sink and crushed four pills into a powder at the bottom of her cup, then poured her fresh coffee and stirred in some cream.

"Here you go, Emily."

"Thanks, Kim. You're a lifesaver," she joked, taking a sip. I felt bad but knew that she'd have probably done the same thing to me, so I let it go.

"No problem. When do you think they'll be home?"

"No idea, but I'm sure Sam'll moo at the sun when work is over. Say, Kim, do you think you could get me a pygmy puff?" Wow, those things worked really fast. Her eyelids were drooping and it was obvious that she had no idea what she was saying.

"Sure, Em. I'd be glad to." I sighed in relief as her head lolled to her left shoulder. She was knocked out cold.

I ran to the closet in the hallway after checking on the girls one last time, grabbed a dark, lightweight jacket and sped into the back bedroom. I didn't think it'd be a good idea to try and shield my Jeep as it tore through the woods, so I opted for running.

I watched out the window, waiting for Brady and Collin to turn their heads so I could crawl outside. Once I had my chance, I ran for it.

Luck was on my side as I threw my shield up around me, ensuring that no one would be able to hear or smell me. Sometimes I wished that it would make me invisible, too, but that was a completely different Guardian power, according to my late grandmother. Thoughts of her spurred me on faster as I passed tree after monotonous tree. I was determined to be successful today. I was determined to prove to myself that I was cut out for this.

I continued to feel for any sign of life as I ran, searching for both my pack and the Cullen coven. Mostly I felt for Jared's aura, because I was more accustomed and familiar with him.

I came to an abrupt halt as I heard voices up ahead. Blocking my mind as thoroughly as I could because I knew Bella's vampire boyfriend was a mind reader, I crept closer to where they were gathered.

"I can't pin them down just yet, Sam. Their movement is erratic because they're so young. When they get closer I'll be able to give you almost the exact time," said the voice of what had to have been an angel. It was very high-pitched and tinkling, and I filed it into my memory, as well as the feeling of her aura, as I knew that both would be of use later on. She was the smallest, so I knew she had to be Alice.

"All I'm asking is that you push yourself as hard as you can. My boys' life depend on you," said the distinct, authoritative voice that reeked of Sam Uley.

"She said she'd tell you when she could. We have lives on the line to, you know." The source of this statement not only sounded profoundly protective, but was also very southern. He must be Jasper. Jared said everyone was more nervous about him than the big one, Emmett, because of all the combat experience he'd had.

"I'm aware of that. I don't want to be rude, but I'm sure that you can understand how hard this is for us. You have many enemies, but the only ones we have is you and your kind."

I could feel the pack move as a unit a step closer to their alpha. Nothing more was said, but I felt tension flood the air.

I took solace in the fact that nothing had happened yet, and went about memorizing the other vampires as I had the little one, despite the overwhelming distortion in the air around them.

I heard a crack and knew Sam had phased. Something was happening.

The group split in half as I watched Sam lead Paul, Jared and Leah out of the clearing. I felt something penetrate my senses to the north, and managed to summon up enough energy to levitate myself into the nearest tree, preparing to avoid the bedlam that I was sure would occur beneath me and gaining a visual that would include almost everything that was about to go on here.

"Emmett, you and Jake will take point position." The southern one began instructing everyone in front of me, and I let my mind float out to find Jared. They were heading towards the group I had noticed not seconds before.

Just then, the first group of newborns broke through the trees and everyone sprang. I tried to keep myself contained. I knew I couldn't just start demolishing things, or someone would notice.

I didn't have to wait long. I saw one move without any of the others noticing. It was trying to get behind Quil. I threw the bloodsucker to the left and into the woods, crushing him in on himself before he even knew what happened. I quickly moved the dust to the pyre the Cullen's leader Carlisle had assembled and turned my attention back to the field. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, a feeling of something being wrong hit me like a ton of bricks.

As Emmett began whooping in delight, I realized that the problem wasn't here. The newborns had started to protect one another from the group Sam had lead out to fight. I managed to pick out the one who was trying to back up to complete the small circle of newborns. There was enough confusion between the four wolves that I was able to rid of him quite easily.

I noticed a straggler come into the clearing and before Rosalie, the nearest friendly vamp to the newborn, could notice her, I slung her to the ground. As I looked at her, I felt like I recognized her.

She was the girl who worked the cash register at the meat market in Port Angeles. She was my age.

I suddenly realized that I couldn't, in good conscience, kill her. Even though she was a definite threat, I just couldn't. I felt a wave of sorrow come over me as I thought about her wasted life, but I had no time to mourn her. I hurriedly tucked her under the nearest fallen tree and extended my shield to her, using my mental strength to immobilize her for the time being.

As soon as I had her well hidden, Sam, Jared, Paul and Leah burst back into the clearing, ready to help finish off what was left here. I noticed another one try to sneak off, but before I could react I saw every wolf turn their head toward the relative location of the place where Bella had been stowed away.

And then I felt it; or rather, I felt her. Her aura was much stronger than any of the vampires aside from the Cullens I had felt so far. She had someone with her, but he had a weaker presence.

And she wasn't here, which meant-

"Carlisle! We have to send someone back up the mountain!" Sam had phased back. Half of the wolves had formed a line in front of him as all of the action stopped, and the others had pinned Jake to the ground to keep him from leaving.

"It's too late. They'll never make it in time, even if nothing has happened yet!"

"But we can't leave them up there alone. I won't do it. Sue Clearwater has already lost one too many family members. Seth isn't trained enough."

"We have to finish these off," Jasper yelled, taking advantage of the distraction and lunging at a confused newborn, quickly finishing him off. "Otherwise, we risk even more of us, and we'll be of no help to them."

Sam nodded and phased back as the battle continued. Leah took off after a newborn, and Jake started up the mountain, but before he could get anywhere, his ears perked and he jolted to a stop, then turned to look behind him. I could barely tell, but I was sure I saw his eyes narrow, and he took off in a sprint back towards the clearing and after Leah.

After a few short minutes, I felt the presence of the two vampires on the mountain vanish, one followed shortly by the other, which meant that Edward and Seth had been able to fight them off.

Relief washed over me, but it didn't last. There were only four or so enemy vampires left in the clearing, and with everyone teaming up to finish them off, I had time to wonder why Jacob and Leah hadn't come back yet.

I threw all my concentration into the two of them, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything since they had a constant visual on the newborn. I felt Leah run a semi-circle around a few trees trying to set up a maneuver with Jake, but fail as the thing eluded her. She tried again, turning around to go the other way, but she hadn't done it quickly enough. Just as Emmett and Embry finished off the last of what was in the clearing, the newborn got behind her before she could react and almost got his arms wrapped around her.

But Jake was faster.

He knocked her out of the way and got locked in the vampires grip. The pack took off growling, teeth bared. After all the free time I'd spent lately scouting their patrol patterns and their abilities, I'd never seen any of them run so fast, not even Sam.

It didn't matter, though. By the time they reached the other two, Jake's chest was being crushed.

I was lucky that my shield was up or my scream would have given me away.

I watched silently as they all met back in the clearing. Leah and the boys had all phased back, save Jake. Sam was trying to get him to, though, so that Carlisle could be of more help to him. Carlisle was currently checking over the minor injuries everyone had sustained. I held my breath as he made his way over Jared, but was able to breathe again once I noticed that he'd only gotten a long gash on his left forearm- and injury that I knew would be healed in no time. Just then, Seth walked through the tree line with Edward not far behind, carrying an unconscious Bella.

"I told her about Jacob," he murmured worriedly. Leah rolled her eyes and Rosalie growled at her.

I suddenly remembered something.

The girl.

I removed my shield from her just enough to allow her to come stumbling out from the tree I'd pushed her under earlier. Once she was spotted, I lifted the shield completely and used her as my distraction to take my leave. I hopped about twenty trees down from where I was, keeping myself levitated above anyone's eye level, and finally let myself float to the ground. I stayed low until I was sure no one would be looking and I took off.

I ran about a mile before I let my mind reach out for a final time. When I felt the clearing, I knew something was off. There were more people.

No. Surely it wasn't them.

I was about to double back to try and stop another fight, this time one much more dangerous considering the Volturi was involved, when I realized they were beginning to disburse, and they were heading my way.

Shit.

I ran hard all the way back to Emily's. I have no idea how I did it, but I managed to crawl back into the window just as someone stopped in front of the bedroom door and began to knock.

"Kim? Are you in here, babe?" It was Jared, and he sounded anxious.

Thankfully I'd had enough forward thought to lock the door before I'd left. Breathing heavily, I mussed up the bed, scattering the pillows and rumpling the blankets in a rush, then mumbled a tired "mhmm, coming," in my best raspy morning voice.

I shuffled slowly towards the door, ripping my jacket off and wiping sweat from my body just before I unlocked the door.

Before I could even get my hand around the door knob, Jared had thrown it open and scooped me up, locking me in a vice grip and kissing me on the forehead.

"I promised I'd be back, didn't I?" He squeezed me and then set me on my feet, pulling back just enough to look into my eyes. I immediately felt guilty. I'd (sort of) gotten upset with him for going off to fight a battle that he was obligated to participate in; a battle that I knew would turn out okay. In the meantime, he had no clue that I was off making sure he was able to keep that promise, even though I knew he'd be able to without my help. I was such a freaking hypocrite, and a back-asswards one at that.

But I just nodded and swallowed, unable to speak because of both my labored breathing from running my out-of-shape ass off and the general effect that staring into Jared's eyes usually had on me.

He shook his head at me and chuckled before planting his lips firmly on mine.

"What am I gonna do with you, Kimbo?" he said after a couple of minutes had come and gone.

I just smiled and kissed him again.

But he did pose a good question. The only better question that I could think of was what I was going to do with myself.

**There you have it! Hope it was enjoyable enough! If it was, then please review! If it wasn't, then by all means review and let me know why you hated it. (hint, hint, review...i know this is annoying...i apologize.) Anyhoo, have a great weekend everyone! Until next time...**

**~darkgoddess**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Yes. I am a horrible person for not updating for five months. I only have one thing to say for myself, and that is that college is a LOT harder than I thought it would be. As a gift/bribe to get you to like me again, I've created a photobucket account. The link is on my profile. There are visuals of the characters as I see them when I write, so if you're interested, go check it out! And HAPPY NEW YEAR! **

**Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Twilight. Any element of my stories that can be recognized in the Twilight Series, books or movies, is not mine. **

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"How much crap can a little girl have?" I murmured to Jared, carrying what seemed like the bazillionth box that contained the personal belongings of one Claire Walker up the stairs of 91 Bear Lane.

Quil turned and narrowed his eyes at me from his position a couple steps up from the one that I was precariously balancing on. Sticking my tongue out, I waddled awkwardly up the rest of the carpeted steps and managed to set my last box down without getting seriously injured.

It had been a week or so since the threat posed by the newborns had been extinguished. Jared had made sure that we had been able to spend as much time as possible together, even though we'd had graduation festivities and he was constantly on rotating patrol shifts that Sam had amplified as a precaution.

I surveyed the light lavender room, turning in a circle as I took in the dark cherry wood furniture and the stuffed animals that Claire had convinced Quil to unpack before we had even gotten two boxes out of the moving van. That little hellion had him wrapped around her tiny finger like nobody's business. I'll admit it was very comical watching an almost-three-year-old force a practically grown man into being Surfer Barbie while she was Baywatch Ken.

"You ready to go, Kimbo?" My favorite voice broke through my thoughts as I felt warm arms wrap around my shoulders.

"Is that all that will be required of our services today?" He laughed into my hair and I felt his head nod against my shoulder. "What now, then?"

"Wanna go to the beach? It's actually kind of sunny for once. We could cliff dive!"

"Sounds like a plan, Jay. I'll have to get my swimsuit."

"Did I hear someone say cliff diving?!" Quil.

Jared and I let out a collective groan as Claire began clapping her hands together and jumping up and down, a sure sign that the two of them would be accompanying us to the beach. I knelt down in front of Claire, scooping her up and twirling her around. She let out one of her signature Claire giggles as I tucked her underneath my arm and started pushing Quil and Jared out of the room, who stumbled into a grumpy-looking Sam as he tried to make his way into the room to perform what he was calling his "supervising" duties.

"Nuh-uh!" I yelled dramatically, giving Claire a "secretive" glance. "We have to get Claire's suit on! No boys allowed!"

"Yeah! No boys awowed!" I laughed as Claire wagged her finger at them, pursing her lips.

Quil's eyebrows shot up and Sam scowled, making me laugh even harder.

"You better watch out for that one, Quil," Sam said. "She'll teach Claire how to be like, well, her and Emily."

I arched my eyebrow at him. "I'll make sure to tell Emily you said that. I'd love to hear what she has to say about it."

And with that Sam marched from the room dragging Jared with him, muttering something to him about controlling his woman. If I didn't think so highly of Sam, I probably would've stomped after him.

"Bye bye, Kil." Claire was waving toward the door where Quil still stood.

"Yeah. Bye bye 'Kil.'"

He waved awkwardly and rushed down the stairs after his pack brothers.

"So Claire, let's find you a swimsuit." I set her down and, after finally finding the box of her beach stuff and a fifteen minute period of Claire having a dilemma over which suit she wanted to wear (the 'gween' one or the 'bwu' one or the 'puwpehl' one), I carried her downstairs only to be met by four grim faces.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" Sam looked pointedly at Claire and I shooed her into the living room to her mother and followed them outside, where we were met by the rest of the pack.

"So, what's going on?"

"Kim, I need you to go pick up Emily and head over to the Black's. Something's…something's happened."

"I can see that, Sam. But what exactly is it that's happened?!"

"Jake-he received an invitation to Bella Swan's we…wedding."

"Bella's getting married?! To who—oh. Oh my God! She's marrying that bloodsucker?!" I couldn't imagine any human wanting to marry a stone cold leech.

"Yeah. Jacob's torn up about it. He took off. Embry tried to figure out where he was by looking at his surroundings through the pack mind link, but all he could see was trees and Jake isn't giving anything away. Billy's beside himself. So I need you and Emily to go over there if you would. I don't want him to be alone. We're gonna go look for Jake—follow his scent as far as we can."

"Oh-okay. I can do that. Is there anything else I can do?" Jared grabbed my hand, pulling me into his side.

"Not right now. Billy called Rachel, Jake's older sister. She lives in an apartment in Seattle and she's flying into Port Angeles soon to come be with her dad. You may need to go pick her up if Sue can't take him. But other than that I don't think so."

I nodded a few times. "I hope he's okay. Is this even within grounds of the treaty? Are the Cullens gonna skip town with her?"

"We don't know right now. But tell Billy, Sue and Old Quil what I've told you. They're the elders and they'll need to be thinking about some things."

"Okay. I can do that."

"Thanks Kim." Sam nodded his head towards his pack and with a flick of his wrist motioned them towards the woods.

"Jared?" I said, jerking him back towards me.

"Yeah, Kimbo?"

"Be careful."

He smiled, leaned in and kissed me, then sprinted off to catch up with the others.

As for me, apparently I now had my own job to do.

I hopped into my Jeep and sped off to Emily's.

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Three hours later, I found myself pulling up to the minute airport in Port Angeles looking for a girl I barely remembered and whose picture I'd glanced at twice so that I'd be able to at least somewhat recognize her. I already knew things about her that she probably didn't know herself, particularly regarding future occurrences in her life, but she had been several years ahead of me in school—she was Sam's age, I think—so all I could really recall vividly was her thick, medium-length mane of hair and her brilliance that rivaled, and I say this quite humbly, my own.

I had no reason to worry, however, because after fifteen minutes of sitting in the small parking area outside of the terminal, I saw the spitting image of Billy Black exit the double doors and scan the cars for her father's truck, who she assumed would be picking her up.

Getting out of the Jeep, I waved to her, and hurriedly ran over to her to help her with her very trendy luggage.

She looked at me confusedly when I ran up to her and smiled. "Hi. Umm, my name's Kim. Your dad sent me to pick you up. He's sort of…busy." Awkward, Kim. Awkward.

She sighed, looking somewhat disappointed.

"I know I'm not who you were expecting. Sorry." Again, awkward. She stood there looking at me, and seemed to be appraising me as her eyes drifted from my fading jeans to my too-big sweatshirt.

"No," she finally responded. "You aren't who I was expecting. Haven't seen the old man in three years and it's YOU, a stranger, who comes to roll out the welcome mat."

I cringed.

"I'm sorry—?"

"Kim. My name is Kim."

"I'm sorry, Kim. I don't really mean to sound like such a bitch. I'm just kind of freaking out. I've been freaking out since dad called me five hours ago. And do you know how hard it is to get a flight out of Sea-Tac on that short of notice? I had to flirt with the ticket man!"

She laughed, and her laugh was definitely infectious.

"Well, my Jeep is over this way if you wanna hit the road."

"Yes! Definitely. Oh! And would you mind too terribly making a McDonald's stop? I'm starving."

I laughed and nodded as we lugged all of her stuff to my car and loaded it in the back seat. I seriously hoped that moving and lifting stuff didn't become a daily thing.

Rachel, or "Ray" as she preferred to be called because it was supposedly "more bad ass," was the exact opposite of her younger brother, aside from the whole persistent and confident thing they had going on that seemed to be genetic. She was shrewd, vulgar, and definitely high-maintenance. She wasn't unpleasant though. She was actually very personable, just rough around the edges and defensive. She was the type of girl that other girls envy. She knew exactly who she was and how to get what she wanted.

"Oh my God! You like AC/DC too?! I thought I was the only person on the Rez who even listened to them! And you have their entire discography in here!"

And that is how Rachel Black became my new-sorta, kinda-best friend.

We'd driven all the way to Forks belting out AC/DC with mouths full of fries when the atmosphere turned serious after we started to talk about our families.

"I love the crap out of my brother Danny, but sometimes…"

"Yeah. I know what you mean. Jake is a little sweetheart but it's times like these when I just wanna-" Ray got quiet for a moment, and I stayed silent, trying not to interfere with her personal moment.

"I mean, how could he do this to our dad?" I glanced over at her and saw tears forming in her eyes. Uh-oh. I didn't do well with crying friends. "Our dad has been through so much crap and then Jacob goes and pulls THIS little stunt. And what makes it even worse is that it's hard for me to even be mad at him. Me and Becky both left because it was stifling to be in that house without mom. I knew it wasn't really fair to leave Jake and dad to fend for themselves, but I couldn't stay. How could I get mad at Jake for feeling the same way? For doing the same thing I did?"

I just shrugged. I wasn't really all that well-equipped to respond with any useful advice, and besides, she had the wrong idea completely about why Jake had run off.

"Umm, did your dad tell you exactly WHY Jake ran off?" Word vomit. Oh well. Too late now.

"No. But I just assumed-"

"Not to, like, contradict you or anything like that, because I think that if there were different circumstances you would totally be right." Shut up, Kim! This isn't you're "f.y.i." to distribute! "But Jake ran off because, well, there's this girl, or woman, or whatever. Her name's Bella Swan. She lives in Forks. Her dad's Chief Swan. Well, she's…she's getting married and Jake sort of likes her…likes her a lot. And the guy she's marrying is like his sworn enemy or whatever. So he kind of freaked out."

As the chunks of diarrhea of the mouth flew out from my voice box, I could see Rachel progressively getting redder.

"Do you mean to tell me that that…that…that CRETIN ran away from our dad to God knows where over some girl?! HE'S SIXTEEN YEARS OLD! What the hell?! When I get my hands on that little rat, I'll murder him. Dad won't even get a chance to say anything to him because I am going to fly at him like a-"

And that's where I tuned out. I immediately felt guilty for telling Rachel instead of waiting for her dad or Sam or someone else who would be a more appropriate person to do it. But I'm Kim. And that's how I roll.

"Yep!" Rachel screeched. I jerked the steering wheel in surprise and swerved off the road a little bit. "Yes sir, I'm going to kill him."

"Could you maybe NOT do that again, please? It'll be hard for you to kill him if you cause us to die first."

She looked over at me, but I couldn't see any kind of remorse in her eyes. Nope. Only pure, icy anger. Poor Jacob. He was a dead man.

Luckily, we had no more startling outbursts or close calls as we made our way onto the reservation. I pulled into the Black's driveway just as three of the boys were walking through the yard past the shed towards us. I noticed Embry, Seth, and Sam as Rachel and I hopped out of the Jeep and began pulling our seats forward to reach her stuff.

As I was leaning into the back seat, Rachel looked at me with raised brows and asked in a hushed whisper, "Is that Sam Uley?!" When I nodded she said, "Holy shit! Can you say steroids, or what?!"

I heard Sam laughing as the trio approached the car. "Rachel Black. It's been awhile."

"Hi, Sam. It has been awhile! Are you still at Western?"

I flinched a little as I saw his face fall a bit. From what Jared had told me, Sam had been pretty smart. He'd even gotten a scholarship to go to Western Washington University up in Bellingham near the Canadian border. But then he'd phased. The tribal elders wouldn't let him go off the rez, and it had pretty much broken him, especially since he'd had to break it off with Leah to top it all off. And then Emily came along, and she still bore the scars of how that had gone.

"Umm, no. I never made it to Western. Some family things came up, y'know?"

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't apologize. Need help with the bags, ladies?" He smirked at me and I nodded.

He looked back at Embry and Seth then jerked his head back towards the Jeep. "These two'll take care of it. You can come on inside, Rachel. You're dad's anxious to see you."

Rachel looked surprised at Sam's air of authority, but must've decided that it didn't really matter because she rushed into her childhood home with a speed that I wouldn't have been able to have achieved in those heels she was wearing.

Before Sam could head into the house behind Embry and Seth who were lugging Rachel's bags, I grabbed his wrist. He looked down at me bemusedly with an expectant look on his face. "Yes, Kim?"

"Did you guys find out anything?"

He sighed. "No. Not a thing. He's blocking us out. He's good at it, too. We couldn't get anything out of him."

"Oh. Well, at least we know he's ok."

"Yeah. I guess."

I hesitated for a moment, but still held onto his wrist.

"Was there something else, Kim?" he said impatiently.

"Yeah. Umm. Sam, I…I told her." His face scrunched up.

"What did you tell her, Kimberly?" He sounded very nervous.

"I told her about Jake. I told her why he ran off."

"Did you include the supernatural parts? Or did you manage to at least keep THAT information to yourself?" he growled at me, grabbing at my shoulders.

"Get your hands off her, Uley." I whipped around and saw Jared running towards us with Paul hot on his heels.

"Jared! It's okay!"

"No it isn't, Kim." He shoved Sam away from me. "How would you feel if I put my hands on Emily like that, you ass?"

Jared growled again. I didn't know that you could challenge the alpha like that.

"Jared, it's really ok. And Sam, no I didn't. I didn't say anything about that. I promise. I wouldn't do that."

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know." Sam looked at Jared and turned to go into the house.

"Apologize to her."

"Jared, he doesn't have to-"

"Yes he does, Kimberly. Apologize. Now."

Sam glared at him about the same time I did. "Sam, you don't have to apologize. And Jared— first of all, it's not Kimberly. You know I hate it when people call me that. And secondly, I said it's okay. That means it's okay. That means that you don't need to 'overrule' me or whatever it is you're doing."

"But-"

"Jared?"

"Yeah Kimbo?"

"Shut-up."

Paul snorted.

"That goes for you too, Paul." He rolled his eyes at me as he followed Sam into the Black house.

I grabbed Jared's hands and jerked him close to me. "Hey, you." Smiling up at him, I dragged him down to meet my lips.

"Hello to you, too, Ms. Multiple-Personality Disorder. I think if you're gonna act like this when I do it I'm gonna piss you off more."

I pulled back from him a little and glowered up at him. "I don't advise that, Jare."

He just smiled and leaned in to kiss me, but before he could we heard a commotion coming from inside the house. Seconds later, Sam was shoving Paul out of the door with Rachel following not far behind.

"What the HELL was that?" Rachel screamed at Paul. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you can't just freaking run around making out, NON-CONCENSUALLY, might I add, with people you don't even freaking know?! SICK! What if you have a cold sore and I get freaking herpes?! That's disgusting! You pig!"

Oh, crap. Paul had just imprinted on Rachel. And apparently he hadn't handled it all too well.

Paul was shaking uncontrollably. I ran to hold a still-shouting Rachel back and Jared ran over to help Sam push Paul into the woods before he gave Rachel a show she'd never forget.

"You better not EVER come near me again, do you understand me?!" Rachel was practically spitting her words out. And that did it.

Paul jerked out of both Sam and Jared's steel grip and a sharp ripping sound could be heard as Paul transformed. I quickly and unnoticeably threw up a shield around myself and Rachel just to be safe, but Sam phased and placed what seemed like an alpha order on Paul before he could rush towards us. Paul, crippled by the order, knelt before Sam in submission. All eyes went from Paul to Rachel.

Rachel had gone limp and the arms that I'd put around her waist seemed to be the only things holding up her weight. Her eyes were wide and her face was pale as she tried to stammer out some kind of response to what she'd just seen.

And then she fainted, crashing to the ground and taking me with her.

Oh, joy.

* * *

**R&R! Thanks, and Happy New Year! :-]]**

**~darkgoddess**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: It's my first update of the New Year! Just so ya'll know, it's my longest chapter so far, and it's been my favorite to write. Hope you guys enjoy it! And please don't forget to leave a review! Thanks, and happy reading! **

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer, and I do not own Twilight. **

I looked around the table I was currently sitting at and my eyes met those of a very panic-stricken Rachel Black. I reached over and patted her hand gently, trying not to alarm the poor girl who appeared at this moment to be a very overwhelmed flight risk, mostly due to the way that one Paul Stone kept eyeballing her like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to cry or ravish her.

"So, umm, the legends-the legends are true. And you guys are werewolves. And you kill vampires for a living." She was shaking, and her wide-eyed stare was trained firmly on Sam. She couldn't bring herself to look anywhere else but him, her father, and myself. "And Jacob ran off because his sort-of-girlfriend is marrying a vampire, a.k.a. his arch nemesis. And YOU," she gave Paul a withering look, the first time she'd so much as glanced at him since she'd seen him phase an hour ago, "are my…_soul_ mate?" Paul nodded eagerly.

"Yes, Rachel. I'd say that about sums it up," Sam replied with an encouraging smile.

"This-this is…" She trailed off and looked perplexedly at the table, searching for a word that might be able to describe the nonsense that was muddling up her mind.

"This is retarded!"she finally, and loudly, might I add, exclaimed. I heard Jared snort beside of me, and promptly elbowed him in the ribs. No, it wouldn't be affective, but he would know I was unhappy with him, and that was good enough for me.

At Rachel's remark, Paul stood abruptly from the small kitchen table in Billy Black's house, tears shining in his eyes and tremors of either a rising sob-fest or a budding furplosion wracking his large frame. You could never tell with good ol' Paulie.

"This is great. This is just peachy. I'm insane. I've gone insane and I suppose I'll be a pedophile, too, while I'm at it. What is he, twelve?!" She angrily jerked her thumb towards Paul.

"He's eighteen," I supplied, trying to be helpful, but she obviously hadn't taken it well.

"Oh, great! I'm a COUGAR!" She dropped her head on the table with a thud, and Paul was immediately by her side, asking her if she was alright and apologizing profusely for making her feel bad about herself and for kissing her out of the blue earlier.

I wanted to laugh. I'd never seen Paul Stone act this nice towards anyone, EVER, not even to the council members or to his parents or friends. But I suppose he was able to make the exception because she was his imprint. He was stroking her hair calmly, watching her as tears stained his cheeks. He didn't even seem to care that his pack brothers were staring at him with expressions that ranged from disbelief to downright hilarity.

I looked over at Emily who was standing behind Sam and raised my eyebrows, jerking my head towards Rachel, trying to communicate that I thought a wolf-girl chat was needed. She somehow understood what I was trying to convey (I blame it on the wolf-girl awesomeness) and we simultaneous moved to pry Paul away from her so we could take her outside for a little chat.

"C'mon, Rachel. Let's get you out of here for a few minutes," I said, placing a quick peck on the top of Jared's head before pulling Rachel out the door by her hand. Paul looked like he wanted to strangle me, but Jared let out a low growl of warning and Paul backed down. Emily followed us out the door and we headed down the gravel road towards First Beach in a companionable silence.

A few minutes went by before Rachel started feeling comfortable enough to ask questions. Her first one made me laugh.

"You two aren't, y'know, werewolves, are you?" Emily and I both doubled over, trying to contain ourselves while simultaneously attempting to keep our previous pace.

"God, no!" Emily said, wiping at her eyes and chuckling.

"Oh. Okay. Well, that's nice, I guess."

"Leah Clearwater is a wolf, though," I said.

"NO SHIT!" Rachel seemed shocked. "She was a couple years behind me, but we were kind of close in high school! I can't believe that!"

"Yep. It's a pretty freaky thing we have going on here in La Push, huh?"

Rachel cracked a smile at Emily. "How do you guys do it, though? This seems…insane! I'm used to books and papers and facts and the laws of nature actually applying to life! This stuff…it's just not really in my realm of thinking, if you know what I mean."

"Well," Emily replied, "I didn't exactly think I'd wake up one morning and be imprinted upon by a wolf-man, but it happened. You don't really ever get used to it, but it's something you learn to accept and you move on."

"You're so wise, Emily," I said, grinning at her.

"Thank you, thank you." She did a quick curtsy and skipped ahead a little bit, turning around to face us and walking backwards with a big smile planted on her face.

Sometimes I forget just how young Emily is. She's just like another mother to most of these boys. Hell, she's another mother figure for me, just in a more friendish way. I guess it would be appropriate for me to say that I was in awe of the woman. She was only a few years older than me, but she managed to commandeer a pack, be a pillar in the community because of Sam's position, act as secretary for the tribal meetings, and hold down a job on top of all of that, not to mention acting as a mentor to myself and whatever other wolf-girls came along.

"So, about this imprinting thing, no offense, but it sounds super creepy."

"It's not," I said fervently. "It's AMAZING, actually. You have this guy who loves you so much he'd die for you. You don't ever have to worry about whether or not he's into you, or if he's cheating on you, or if he's dependable, or whatever else. Because he's perfect for you. He was made for you. And even if his job is kinda freaky or if the way you guys met was unconventional, you're still each other's perfect match."

"GOD, you sound like a sap, Kim!"

I blushed. "Thanks a lot, Emily! That's really nice of you! Not like YOU have any room to talk. You and Sam are disgusting."

"Hey! I take major offense to that!" she laughed.

"But," Rachel protested quietly, "they don't have a choice. YOU don't have a choice. Doesn't that bother you?"

"At first it did," Emily said, and I nodded. "I mean, here's this really hot guy who more or less is saying that he's bound to you. Like you said, Rachel, it's creepy. But after awhile, you feel the bond, too. It isn't as strong for us as it is for them, I guess, but it's there, and it isn't something you can ignore. Once I gave into Sam, after the whole love-triangle debacle-which is another story for another time- we still had to work on our relationship. It isn't perfect. It's just like any other romantic relationship except for the way you found one another. You still have problems and you still fight, but at the end of the day the imprint is still there under the surface pulling you back to each other. It's-"she trailed off, lost in thought. Probably about Sam. Yuck.

"It's reassuring and nice and freaking annoying as hell sometimes, especially when you just want to be mad at him. And you may have a harder time with that last part than the rest of us because, let's face it, Paul has the worst temper and he can be a douche bag when he wants to be." Her face fell a little bit. "But he's a really good guy underneath all that, I suppose. He's Jared's best friend so he can't be THAT bad," I said, smiling of the thought of my 'Jare-bear'. GOD he hated that name! I loved torturing him with it. "Hopefully, though, if we have any luck on our side at all, you'll be able to whip him into shape."

She laughed. "I still feel like a friggin' COUGAR though! He just got out of high school, right? And I'm a college graduate! And I'm woman enough to admit that I can be a complete hard ass bitch when I take the notion to. What if all we do is fight? What if I piss him off to the point where he explodes like he did earlier and he hurts someone?" I glanced over at Emily with a sympathetic look on my face. Rachel still thought her scars had come from a bear, when really they were evidence of the pack's secret and Sam's constant guilt-an everyday reminder of how badly he screwed up. She smiled at me and shook her head, telling me in her own way that it didn't bother her.

"It'll work out, Rachel, and the two of us will be here if you need us. Emily's practically an expert on this particular type of men, anyway, considering how she manages to wrangle them all up on a daily basis without TOO many problems. Plus, her cooking is DIVINE, and if you do happen to need us, she'll probably come prepared with muffins. So please, for my sake, don't hesitate to make up a reason to talk to us." Emily laughed, but I was completely serious. I loved my mother, but she wasn't exactly Top Chef material, and unfortunately her lack of skills had been passed through the gene pool down to _moi._

After piddling around on the beach for a few more minutes, we turned and headed back to the Black residence, making idle chit-chat and answering more of Ray's (as she'd asked us to call her) sporadic questions as we went.

Walking through the front door, I noticed that most of the pack had disbursed. Only Sam, Jared and Paul remained, sitting in the living room talking to Billy about what they'd heard from Jake, which wasn't much. Upon our entrance, Sam and Jared stood up, apparently ready to leave, and I saw Rachel give Paul a small grin. I laughed when Paul's face lit up, and allowed Jared to guide me out the door as I put my thumb and pinky finger up to my face, telling Rachel to call me when she got a chance. She nodded and sheepishly turned her attention back to Paul while me, Emily, Jared and Sam piled out of the house and into my Jeep.

* * *

I lay in my bed, quietly mulling over the events of both the day and the past month. I was trying to calm my mind so that I could do some mental exercises and test the extent that my powers had reached. I tried to practice every day that I could for as long as I could, but since it was summer I had to divide my time between Jared, ESPECIALLY Jared, pack functions, Emily, Lindsay, Danielle, and the crappy bookstore in Forks where I worked part time. My schedule didn't leave too much room for the enhancement of my mad skills.

I thought about Lindsay and Danielle, who I was going to head to the beach with tomorrow, weather permitting, so we could spend some much needed best friend time before we all parted ways to go to college in a month- the end of August. I thought about Danny and Tess, who had just announced at dinner a few days ago that they were going to have a baby. I smiled at the thought of being an aunt. Mom and Tess wanted a little girl. I secretly sided with my dad and Danny, who wanted it to be a boy.

Finally, my mind drifted back to a conversation I'd had with Jared right after the fight with the newborns and just before graduation. We'd spent the entire day together and something had been off with him the whole time. That night, I'd asked him to stay over, or rather, pretend like he'd left then sneak back into my window. (My parents loved the kid to death, but not that much.) I loved cuddling with him right before I fell asleep. There was something about lying next to his warm body that relaxed me.

_...Flashback..._

I'd asked him what he'd been keeping from me all day as I traced the features of his face, feeling my way around his nose and lips and eyebrows as we lay in the dark.

"Can I ask you something, Kim?" had been his response, one which I hadn't really expected. We played twenty questions all the time, so much that it was sort of disturbing how many random things we now knew about each other, so I was confused as to why he'd be hesitant about asking me anything.

"Of course, Jared. You can ask me anything, anytime. Whether or not I'll answer is a different story," I giggled a little, prompting him to lightly blow air into the nape of my neck, making me shiver.

"It isn't a joke, Kim," he said seriously, and I recoiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like an ass," he amended. "It's just, you're so smart, Kim, and the only college you've applied to is the community college in Port Angeles."

I tried to cut him off, but he wasn't having any of it. "Just hear me out, Kimbo, and then you can say whatever you want." I nodded and he took a deep breath. "Okay. I feel like…God, why is this so hard for me to say? It shouldn't be. Not when it comes to you."

"It's okay, Jare. I can handle whatever you need to tell me." I pressed a kiss to his nose for good measure, lacing my fingers through his and urging him on.

"I guess I…I feel like I'm holding you back, beautiful. I feel like I'm the reason you're not going off to U. Dub. or some other big university. And I don't wanna be the reason you don't pursue some big-shot career. And you have the potential to be a big-shot, Kim. You're amazing, and I don't want you to waste that on…here in La Push."

Even though he was trying to hide it from me, I caught his slip, and I realized what he was going to say and what he really thought. He thought I was wasting my life on him! "I'm not wasting ANYTHING on you, Jared. I've been in love with you for half of my life, and thanks to stupid Paul, you are very well aware of that." He beamed at me, and even in the dark I could see the happiness in his eyes, as well as the doubt that still lingered heavily there. "You aren't just some high school boyfriend, Jared Dakotah Talon. You aren't indispensable. You are IT for me, just like I'm it for you, so don't ever say that I'm wasting my life on you. You're my other half and I don't take it lightly when people say things like that about my other half." He smiled again.

"I know, Kim. I know. But I'm stuck here, especially for the time being. And I want something better for you. I don't want you to be stuck here because of me. I don't want you to feel like you have to stay here as an obligation to me as my imprint."

"I don't feel that way at ALL Jared!" I pushed away from him and sat up, doing my best to leer at him, even though it was REALLY hard because all he had on was a pair of boxers and a sad expression that was practically begging me to jump on top of him. "I'm here because I want to be here, and the second I decide otherwise, you will be the first to know, I promise. But for right now, I WANT to be "stuck" here with you. I WANT to go to community college and get my core classes out of the way for now. Maybe after that I'll decide something different, but who knows? And if I decide not to transfer, the R.N. program there is very commendable, and God knows Forks General could use all the help they can get. But none of that is important right now. The only thing that's important is that you know that I'm exactly where I want to be. It has nothing to do with my "obligation" to you, or any of the rest of that retarded crap that was spewing out of your mouth just then. 'Kay?"

He looked, for lack of a better word, flabbergasted. He didn't reply, just kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, and I flopped back down onto my pillow and snuggled into him. He eventually snapped out of whatever funk he'd been in and wrapped his arms around me, murmuring "God, Kim, I love you" into my hair, kissing my neck, and settling in for the night, effectively ending the conversation.

_...End Flashback..._

I came back to the present with a start as I heard a tapping noise on my window.

Speak of the devil.

I slowly pulled myself out of the bed and over to the window. As soon as my eyes focused, I saw Jared, who must've just gotten off patrol for the night, hanging out of the tree beside of my window with one arm. I shook my head as I threw up the heavy wood, moving back so Jared could swing himself into my room.

"You know, if I hadn't seen you in your wolf form with my own eyes, I'd think you shifted into a gorilla or something, Jare-bear." He glared at me for the name, but it didn't last long. It never did, and I was pretty sure it never would.

"Now Kim," he said, putting on a serious face, trying hard not to let me see the corners of his mouth twitching. "You know what happens to pretty girls who tease werewolves."

"Actually, no. I don't know what happens when pretty girls tease werewolves." I raised my left eyebrow and smirked at him. The expression died on my face almost as soon as it appeared, because Jared had thrown me over his shoulder and my eyes shot wide open as I squealed quietly. He plopped me carefully on the bed and crawled over me, placing his hands on either side of my head and straddling me, pinning me between him and the bed. I couldn't even pretend to look mad. He had nothing on but tennis shoes and my favorite tattered green basketball shorts, and his position gave me a REALLY nice view of his sculpted torso. I was so giddy I thought I was gonna throw up.

"Well, allow me to demonstrate." I giggled, something very out of character for me except for when it came to this mega-hottie, and with a mischievous grin on his face he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my upturned lips.

"That's it?" I asked as he pulled away from me. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty disappointing. "That's pretty sad. Aren't you supposed to be ravishing me? I thought I'd at LEAST get some tongue."

He just stared at me with his mouth open and, even though I knew he had to be tired, he looked happy. "Kimberly, you are gonna be the death of me, you know that?"

"I might have been aware."

He snapped his mouth shut and looked down at me lovingly, scanning my face and pecking my lips a couple more times before rolling us over so that I was on top of him. I scooted back to the foot of the bed, pulling off his shoes and throwing them in the floor before yanking the comforter off of my bed. My personal space heater made it impossible for us to sleep together with anything more than a thin sheet covering us. I moved to grab his shorts, attempting to tickle my fancy by seeing him in clad in just his boxers, which had only been a recent development, when he stopped me. "Oh. Sorry. I just thought-"

"No, Kim. It's fine. But, there's something I need to show you first." He sat up and knelt by my bed, reaching into the pocket of his shorts as I sat on the edge of the bed, my legs on either side of his body. I watched as he pulled out a small black velvet box, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

Was he going to propose to me?! Oh, God, I hope not! Not that I didn't want him to in the future, but I had always planned it in my head to where he'd wait until AFTER he knew my secret, that way I didn't have to flat out deny him without giving him an explanation, because I couldn't be engaged to him when I wasn't telling him the truth about myself-when I wasn't being completely honest with him like he'd been with me.

And then he moved to get on one knee.

OH MY GOD! Please, please, please, PLEASE don't let him propose to me! I looked up at my ceiling, taking deep breaths and feeling like I was going to hyperventilate.

"Jared, I-"

"Kim, I need to say something to you." He tugged my hands, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, a sign that he was trying to muster up the courage to do this. "After the other night when we talked, you know, before we graduated, I thought a lot about us. I know we haven't really been together that long and we just graduated and stuff, but what you told me that night-it was so true, Kim. We aren't a typical high school relationship. We're it for each other, at least I hope I'm it for you." He smiled nervously and took my left hand in his.

Oh, shit. Oh shit shit shitty SHIT!!! I wonder if he can see that I'm panicking. I'm POSITIVE that I'm having an anxiety attack. I have to be. I HAVE to be!

"Kimberly Jenae Connweller..." I think I'm going to cry. Is this boy blind? No. He probably thinks that this is what I want! I practically proposed to HIM the other night! Oh, Jesus. Oh crap. Oh, GOD!

"I know that what I do and what I am is dangerous and it's not stable and anything could happen at any time, but I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm one thousand million percent sure that I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me. I wanna grow up and grow old with you. I want you to be the mother of my children. I wanna fight with you and make up with you and cherish you and love you until the day that I die." And then he smiled his pearly white smile that made his dimples look so freakin' cute. He smiled MY smile. And I melted. But I felt like I wanted to throw myself off a building.

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO REJECT HIM AFTER THAT?! Oh my God. It was perfectly planned, perfectly executed, I was freakin' CRYING. THAT is how romantic and perfect of a proposal it was. But I couldn't agree to marry him when he had no clue what I was. It wasn't fair to either of us. But what was I supposed to say after that beautiful speech? "Sorry. I can't marry you because I'm lying to you. You have no idea what I am and what I'm capable of. But I can't tell you. That would be counterproductive." Yeah. 'Cause THAT would go over REAL well.

He went to open the little box. Oh, CRAAAAAP!

I heard the lid snap open with a quiet thud. I couldn't possibly look.

But, in true Kim fashion, I did.

And I saw a simple platinum band...with no diamond.

"I want you to take this promise ring and wear it so that you'll always know how I feel about you. I want you to know that I intend on making you mine completely one day, when you're done with school and when I'm done with...whatever it is that I'll be doing. I love you, Kimbo. I just wanted to show you how much."

Oh.

OH.

OHHHHH!!!!

Thank. You. GOD.

It was just a promise ring. I mean, yeah, it was a BIG step in our relationship, and it was a very, very important one as far as commitments go, and GOD I loved Jared for it because it was so thoughtful and sweet and what not, but it wasn't AS serious as an engagement ring, and I wouldn't feel like a terrible person if I accepted it. It was a promise ring. It was a PROMISE RING!

And then, I laughed.

I didn't fall into his arms or cry more or say "I accept" or even "yes!" I didn't mutter a damned word.

I laughed.

And Jared looked like he wanted to die. And then I felt like a jerk.

So, still laughing, I dropped to my knees in front of him, grabbed the box from his hand, then took the shiny ring and thrust it at him with my right hand while wiggling the fingers on my left hand in front of his face.

He relaxed. He REALLY relaxed. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and smiled so big I thought I was going to have to get my tweezers and pry the edges of his mouth out of his ears.

And then he started laughing. And we were both laughing.

And then he put the ring on my left ring finger and we laughed some more.

And then I jumped him. I was mauling the poor boy's face with mine.

And that's how my mom and dad ALMOST found us at three in the morning, but thanks to Jared's superior wolf senses, I was spared the humiliation of my parents knowing that I did things like that with Jared. Instead, I ended up looking like an idiot rolling around laughing hysterically on the floor, panting heavily, which was infinitely better than the alternative.

Who knows how Janet, the register lady at the grocery store in Forks, would have looked at me after finding out about the premises for THAT particular groundation.

When my parents finally gave up on trying to figure out why I was so strange and left my room after several worried looks, Jared hopped back into the window, pulled me onto the bed, and quieted my still shaking form with a kiss.

"So does that mean you accept my promise ring or-" I kissed him hard several times and smiled up at him as he spun the ring around on my finger.

"I accept. I wholeheartedly accept. I love you so, SO much, Jared."

We both had matching face-splitting grins as we stared at each other and kissed until we drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: Well, there you have it! I feel like I haven't really explored this side of Jared and Kim's relationship at all, so I wanted to get some fluff in here before things get serious. I hope you guys enjoyed it! I know it was my favorite chapter so far to write. Thanks so much for reading! And don't forget to leave a review! **

**~darkgoddess**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: So first of all I want to thank you guys for giving me OVER ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! I cannot tell you how thrilled and thankful that I am. Next, I already have the next chapter written, which I'm sure you all are pretty excited about. However, reviews will get the update! So please, REVIEW! Again, I just want to say how much I appreciate all of my readers. Thanks SO much you guys! Now...onto chapter 14! **

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer. Sadly, I do not own the Twilight Saga or any of its affiliates. **

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"Kim." I rolled over, pressing my face further into my pillow as I tried to get away from the noise buzzing in my ear.

"Kimbo." I felt my comforter slide down to the back of my knees as the area of my bed to the right of me dipped down. I groaned, huffed out a sigh and then attempted to pull the covers back up. Warm hands swatted mine away from the blankets and started their way up my back, their fingers ghosting over my t-shirt clad skin and coming to rest on my neck, brushing some of the hair out of my face.

"Kim, c'mon. You have to get up. It's important." The voice sounded strained, but I wasn't coherent enough to respond appropriately.

I narrowly opened one of my eyes to squint at my alarm clock, noting that it was just after midnight.

"Please, Kim?" I felt hot breath on my neck and jumped as I felt soft, hot lips begin to nibble at my earlobe.

"Jared, baby, it's late and I have to be in Port Angeles by eight in the morning for class. Let me sleep!" I whined. Whining got me what I wanted every single time.

"Kim, I wish I could, but Sam said everyone has to get to Emily's immediately. Something big happened. Something REALLY big."

"Is everyone okay?" I sat up sleepily in my bed, rubbing the gunk out of my eyes and trying not to notice the look Jared was giving me upon seeing me clad in only his t-shirt that I'd stolen and a pair of panties. (What? August had brought a massive heat wave that had spilled over into September. Don't judge my bedroom attire.) Not only had August turned out to be hotter than Hades, it had been equally as interesting, what with Jacob running away, then coming back to attend Bella's wedding, then almost starting a war between the pack and the vamps when he found out that Bella and Edward were planning to get freaky on their honeymoon.

Between attending classes at the community college, working at the bookstore in Forks, supplying Jared with plenty of Kimmy-time, and making unexpected and abrupt trips to Emily's house for various pack functions, not to mention just trying to keep up with said pack and all of their drama, I was a tired person. A tired person who wanted sleep very much.

"Yeah. Everyone's okay- well, maybe everyone but Jake, but nothing's new with that. It's just that something major, and I mean MAJOR happened tonight. Sam sad everybody, even the imprints, had to be at Em's house a.s.a.p. I'm sorry, Kimbo."

"Eh. What else is new?" I grabbed my clothes from the previous day and headed into the bathroom to change. Once back in my room, I stuffed some clean clothes into my book bag and picked my school binder up from my desk, shoving it in the bag as well. I figured if it was something big I'd be staying at Emily's for the rest of the night, and I liked to be prepared.

We left my house as quietly as we could, and I put up a weak fight when Jared took my keys from me. I was too exhausted to drive, anyway. I'd probably wreck and kill us. Well, just me.

I dozed on the way there, only truly waking when we started bouncing over the gravels in Emily's drive-way. Jared was out of the car and over by my door within seconds of cutting the engine, gently lifting me out of my seat with one arm and grabbing my bag in the other. I nuzzled my nose into the crook of his neck and tried to block out the raucous noise coming from inside the house.

As soon as we entered the tiny house, I felt like I was suffocating. All but three of the wolves-Sam, Jake, and Seth-were now crowded around the small kitchen, even Jared, after having set me down by the living room, and all of them were in one heated conversation as Emily ran around them, trying her best to get everyone to calm down. Minutes after we arrived, a loud bang echoed through the house and Emily looked scandalized, but her face softened as she saw Sam storm into the house with a look of malice plastered across his features.

Emily rushed up to him, but he put a hand up in her direction, motioning for her to stop as he turned his back to us and gripped the sink. She ignored him, though, and ran a soothing hand across his back.

"Sam? Sammy, baby, are you okay?" When he didn't answer, she turned to the other boys, who'd gone silent at their alpha's presence. No one even dared to call them out on that little nickname. Hell, even I could feel the sheer power, not to mention anger, that was coming off of 'Sammy' in waves. "What's wrong with him?! What the hell happened?!"

No one answered. Emily looked to me and I just shrugged. I tried to appear curious as to what was going on, but I had a feeling I already knew. My grandmother felt it was important to explain to me the circumstances surrounding Nessie's existence, which included her telling me about the split pack. It only fit that , considering who was absent, this was what had happened tonight.

I could feel the aura of the room grow more nervous with every minute that Sam waited to recap what had happened. Everyone looked anxious and on edge. Even Embry, who was usually exceptionally calm, looked ridiculously skittish.

"Jake and Seth are…gone," Sam finally managed to choke out.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" I asked. Even though I knew what was going on, I couldn't help but feel a little more worried now, hearing that something had happened to sweet little Seth, who I had started to treat like my kid brother.

"They've left the pack," Paul said, tightening his grip on Rachel, who looked like she wanted to murder something after hearing that her brother had run off again.

"But why?" Emily said, looking back to Sam, who'd turned around and slumped against the counter pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Bella Swan…Cullen…whatever the hell…came back from her honeymoon a few days ago sick. Charlie told Billy, who told Jake to tell me. Jake wanted to attack them and I wouldn't, so he went to the Cullens by himself. We couldn't follow him-I didn't want to break the treaty without knowing the facts first, and even if they had changed her, it was her choice, and I had no problem with overlooking her new status to avoid war, as long as they'd leave. But Jake wouldn't listen, just like Jake NEVER listens." Sam was mumbling just loud enough for those of us without super senses to hear what he was saying. After all, we ( or rather, the other imprints) were the only ones who didn't know what was going on. "I had everyone out in the woods just in case. I wanted to be safe. Thankfully, he phased back an hour or so ago, but he came back with the news that Bella wasn't a vampire. She hasn't been turned."

"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" Rachel asked.

Sam shook his head. "She isn't a vampire. But she's pregnant with the child of one."

The entire room went dead silent. I feigned shock, letting my jaw drop open.

"I didn't think it was possible. I don't even think the Cullens thought it was possible. But we don't know what the thing is. It could be extremely dangerous, and I don't want to take that chance. I want to destroy it. But we can't do that without hurting Bella, so Jake won't hear any of it. When I tried to order him to listen to me, to protect his tribe, he broke out from under the order. He asserted his birthright as alpha. He left to guard the Cullens. Seth…" He raised his head and stared at Leah, who was standing as still as a statue against the fridge, no emotion displayed on her face.

"Oh, just say it, Sam," she spat, and guilt flickered across his face before he looked back to Emily.

"Seth broke away, too. Seth went with Jake to protect the Cullens."

Emily's hand flew to her mouth and Leah slumped down onto the floor with a sigh. Emily tried to make her way over to Leah to offer her some comfort but Leah wouldn't have any of it.

"Don't bother, Emily. I'm fine," she snapped. Sam growled but Leah remained unaffected.

"Quil, Embry," Sam said, looking towards the corner of the room where the two were huddled together. "I need to know where you stand. I know Jake has been your friend for a long time, but I'm afraid I'm going to need you, you're tribe is going to need you, just in case..." he trailed off.

"Claire's here, Sam, so this is where I'll be," Quil said.

Embry remained quiet.

Sam stared at him for a minute. "Can I count on you, Embry?"

He nodded hesitantly, staring blankly ahead and not looking at any of us.

Sam visibly relaxed a bit and pulled Emily towards him. "Well, I'm going to have to bump up patrols, I'm afraid. It'll be worse now that we're short two guys. I'll go out tonight, and I need one other experienced wolf and either Brady or Collin."

Collin and Embry volunteered, and as they, along with Sam, left the house, the rest of us, besides Leah, hunkered down in the living room, too wired to sleep.

"I'm going to go tell my mom that…well, I'm going to tell my mom. I'll…see you guys tomorrow, I guess."

Emily looked like she wanted to say something but must've thought better of it, because Leah left the house moments after making her announcement without any interruptions.

Maybe if Emily would have known it'd be the last time we'd see Leah as a member of Sam's pack, she might have done something to stop her. I contemplated going after her and trying to talk to her, but it wouldn't do any good. My grandmother had seen her as a part of Jake's pack, and no matter what I or anyone else did, the outcome would remain the same.

I put the inevitable out of my mind and concentrated on trying to fall asleep snuggled up to Jared on Emily's couch.

The next morning I awoke to find Emily's small house bursting at the seams with chaos.

I guess Leah had left the pack, now, too.

Emotions at Emily's hastily prepared breakfast ranged from frustration to anger to hopelessness and beyond. Sam, Paul, and Rachel looked angry, Emily looked hopeless, and everybody else looked like they'd had enough drama to last a lifetime, myself included.

Unfortunately, the drama would just keep on coming.

Jared would be made to go beg "Lee-Lee" to come back home via Sam's orders.

Each of the wolves in Sam's pack now pulled double duties every day. Jared had morning and afternoon duties, which meant the only time I got to see him was at dinner when he'd come eat at my house, much to the delight of my father, who found Jared to be quite amiable company at the absence of my brother. Then, after hanging out with my parents for awhile or going over to his house where I was indulged with his mom's freaking amazing chocolate chip cookies, we'd make our way to my bedroom and I'd do homework while he slept and then join him when I was finished. I spent my afternoons when I got home from my classes wisely, locking myself in my room, pulling down the shades, unplugging everything, and working on my skills. Sometimes I'd stop at the small park in Forks, go into the woods, and uproot a few trees via my mind. Not only did this help me practice moving large objects, but it also helped me strengthen my shield since I had to make sure no one would be able to hear me. That would have been difficult to explain, not to mention an extremely awkward conversation in which the only result would've been me ending up as the subject of some kind of government funded scientific experiment.

Bella's father Charlie kept coming to the rez to visit Sue Clearwater because he'd heard that both of her children had "run away from home" from some gossiping La Push locals, and also to try and see Billy, who'd been giving Charlie the run-around because he'd been asking so many questions about "something funny going on on the rez and in Forks that he couldn't quite put his finger on." So all of us had been instructed by the elders not to disclose any information to anyone and to be especially careful about what we said when we were around anyone other than each other, because people were starting to snoop.

And then, the holy mother-load of melodramatic and insanely-freaky-even-for-those-living-in-a-constant-state-of-the-supernatural events occurred.

Jacob Black imprinted on Bella's evil vampire spawn.

Sam almost blew a gasket. Rachel freaked out. All of the other wolves that I was around after the big revelation occurred looked like they wanted to vomit. And Claire and I laughed. Well, Claire was going through a phase where she laughed at everything. I laughed because I couldn't fail to see the hilarity in the whole situation. I mean, c'mon! Jake's been pining over this girl who clearly isn't going to pick him over a leech for God only knows how long, gets pissed when she gets married to aforementioned leech, gets even MORE pissed when he finds out she's going to do it with her vamp hubby on her honeymoon, gets so pissed he practically has an ANEURYSM when he finds out Bella's sick, which he takes to mean she's been turned, and proceeds to try and persuade Sam to kill the Cullens. He finds out she's pregnant and then changes his mind about starting a fight because he doesn't want to hurt Bella, then wants to kill the evil spawn after it's born because he thinks it's killed Bella, and then when he goes to kill the thing he imprints on her. Renesmee.

Okay, so this is a bit off topic, but who the hell names their kid something like this? Do they care at ALL about the social well-being of their child?

Ok. Back to my point. Contrary to what Sam might have thought, it was hilarious. Hi-freaking-larious. But apparently Sam Uley DIDN'T think so, and he looked at me in a way that I found extremely scary. But I kept laughing, anyway.

Then we found out that one of the Cullens' vampire friends from Alaska had been mourning the loss of her mate who the wolves killed, had come to seek revenge, and ended up seeing Jake and Nessie out hunting one morning. She had mistaken her for some weird baby vampire thing that had caused pandemonium some three hundred years or so ago, and went off to tattle to the Volturi.

Sam actually blew a gasket when he heard from Jake and Carlisle that the Volturi would be coming, yet again, to our rainy little corner of the world.

Except this time, they probably wouldn't be too nice.

Then, two of the Cullens, Alice and Jasper, had come to the border seeking for access to cross. They told Sam they had some business to attend to and would need to get to the ocean to do so. Sam had let them go. Not two days, later we found out that they'd actually "run off." I knew better.

Like I said, the drama just kept on coming. And it wasn't anywhere close to stopping, either.

For example, I saw a young kid phase for the first time, a kid younger than anyone else in the pack, even Collin and Brady. Cole Faust was only twelve years old. Twelve. Years. Old. And Sam said he was expecting more to change. Not only were the Volturi coming, but the Cullens had talked to Sam and asked for his permission to bring friends, or "witnesses" for Renesmee, to their home. Sam, after setting his own terms for the incoming "friendly" vamps, had agreed.

I witnessed a second boy, and that's what he was, a boy, phase when I was at Danielle's house to visit her while she was home on Christmas Break. Lindsay had to go with her family to Seattle for a get-together with her extended relations, so it had been just me and Dani.

We had been teasing Derek, who was fourteen, mercilessly about his crush on an older girl at the tribal school when he started to shake. I had seen Cole just before he phased, and Derek looked like he was in exactly the same condition. I managed to use my gift to keep him from furploding long enough so that I could get him outside, screaming at Dani to get my cell phone out and call Jared immediately. As soon as we made it to the tree line, I released my hold on him, and not a second later there was a large charcoal gray wolf in front of me. His body was still fairly small and his paws were so big in comparison to his body that he looked almost clown-like. I heard Dani shriek behind me and her parents came running out of the house.

I paid them no attention as I put my hands in front of me and slowly started backing away from Derek, trying to calm him down.

"Derek, I need you to calm down for me, okay sweetie? Help is coming. I promise, you're gonna be just fine. I promise." I kept quietly murmuring assurances his way when Jared came barreling out of the woods towards me with Sam on his heels. Jared pulled me away from the other two at an obviously inhuman speed while Sam phased to help Derek.

It had been quite an interesting conversation with the Merran family that night, to say the least.

Within the next week, four more young boys, Kody, Travis, Logan (who insisted we call him Blade), and Knox, ages ranging from eleven to fifteen, had phased.

Kody was a thirteen-year-old ball of energy that lacked discipline, and had parents who wanted to have their son shipped off and Sam arrested. Luckily, crisis had somehow been averted.

Travis, fifteen, was very sweet but VERY shy, especially around us wolf girls. Rachel and I had made a pact that after everything that was about to go down was over and done with, we were going to help him get a girlfriend.

Logan, excuse me, BLADE, was also fifteen, and cocky…as…HELL. I almost peed my pants laughing when he tried to hit on me only to be quickly put in his place by a fuming Jared.

Knox, the youngest out of all of them, was only eleven, and I felt so sorry for him sometimes that I couldn't even stand myself. He was so, SO tiny compared to the rest of the pack, even the other newbies, but still entirely too big to look like an eleven-year-old. His body transformation had been so incredibly drastic that he probably wouldn't be able to go back to school until he was a junior in high school, or our secret would surely be exposed. In wolf form he was no taller than an Irish Wolfhound and no bulkier than an English Mastiff or a Saint Bernard. (I looked up the world's largest dogs just so that I could have some kind of reference for his size. Jared had laughed at me, asking me why I cared so much, but I told him it was important to me, so he'd just have to shut up.)

And then there was the seventh wolf to change, Takala, who was, shockingly, a fourteen-year old girl and only the second known female to ever have transformed into a wolf.

Her background looked disturbingly like Sam's. An absent father, a mom who took her anger out on her kid and got tangled up in drugs, and a girl who managed to succeed even though the odds were stacked up high against her.

Oh, and did I mention that she double-imprinted with Embry Call? I didn't? Well then, let me enlighten you.

Takala double-imprinted with Embry Call.

Drama, drama, drama.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. And don't forget, reviews will get the next chapter! **

**~darkgoddess**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hello again everyone! I decided a couple weeks ago to completely rewrite this chapter, so sorry for the delay! Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews and hits and favorites, and also for being patient with me! Here's chapter 15, so enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review! **

**Also, check out my photobucket in the next couple of days. I'm in the process of adding more pictures, so go by and take a look! **

**Disclaimer:I'm not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own anything recognizable from the Twilight Saga or _A Christmas Carol._**

Bella was a shield. Bella was a freaking SHIELD!

I smiled ecstatically to myself as I reminisced over the information that my grandmother had so graciously neglected to tell me.

I stood in my kitchen cutting slices out of a tube of cookie dough to take to Emily's house tonight. She was throwing a big shindig for Christmas and as a send off to the pack a few days before they were to face the Volturi. We imprints were all being sent off of the reservation in case things got ugly. Well, we were all supposed to be going. I wasn't. But Jared didn't have to know that.

Emily and Claire were going up to the Makah rez with Claire's family. Rachel was going to Seattle to "catch up" with some college friends. I was supposed to be going to stay in Port Angeles for the weekend with my parents. I, however, was going to send my parents to Port Angeles by themselves while I stayed holed up in my house waiting for however long it took the wolves, Cullens and company to face off with the vampire monarchy, doing who knows what to protect the pack if it came down to that. My grandmother also failed to mention anything about this "vampire summit" thing before, so I was flying blind.

Bella presented a solution to my problem. If she was a shield, then she would surely try to spread her power out to protect everyone. I would be there to back her up. Well, I wouldn't be _there,_ per se, but I would be able to feel her shield with my own power and throw up one of my own to reinforce it- just in case.

Lost in thought, I wasn't really concentrating on what I was doing with my hands-a very, very bad thing considering that there was a knife in my right hand attempting to cut into a food product, something I couldn't do even if it was the only thing I was focused on. I looked down after I felt a sharp pain and realized I'd cut a pretty deep gash into one of my fingers. I rushed to the sink to run cold water over it, desperately trying to remember if mom had a first aid kit somewhere around the house, hoping to be able to bandage the cut up before Jared got here in-I glanced toward the clock-five minutes, and freaked out and insisted upon taking me to the hospital.

Nope. Couldn't have that. How embarrassing.

As I stared at it, a thought briefly crossed my mind.

What if I could—heal it? You know, like, close the flesh back up? I could rip things apart with my mind, no problem, but could I put something back together?

I was surprised I'd never thought of this before.

I glanced around, double-checking to make sure no one was around, before I pushed my diaphragm out and sent adrenaline coursing through my veins. I felt my eyes brighten as I looked at the gash, willing it to close.

And it did.

It freaking did!

How…cool! No. Not cool. Cool is a lame word. Exciting? Revolutionary? Excitingly revolutionary? That would have to do.

I stopped the rush of adrenaline and closed my eyes, doing a little victory dance around the island in the kitchen, waving my hand and forcing out a dark laugh at the knife.

I heard laughter behind me.

"Kimmy, what in the WORLD are you doing?" I spun around, tripping over my bedroom shoes that I'd kicked off in front of the fridge mid-dance and catching myself at the last minute over the edge of the counter.

"Shut up, Danny boy. Why are you here? You don't live here anymore," I said, straightening myself with a laugh.

He raised his eyebrows at me as a very pregnant Tess walked in and cut off whatever smartass remark he was about to say. "Hey, Kim! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Tess!" I enveloped her in an awkward hug, her belly getting in the way as we laughed.

"So, how did last night go? You're mom told me you went to Christmas Eve dinner with Jared's mom's side of the family." She dragged out the end of her sentence and waggled her eyebrows.

"Not half bad. They aren't as insane as you guys, so that was a plus."

"Hey! I'm not insane!" Danny said, grabbing me by my neck and rubbing his knuckles across the top of my head.

"KIM?" Daniel groaned at the new voice and I just laughed.

"Jared, baby, Daniel's hurting me!" I pouted, smiling up at my brother. Jared entered the semi-crowded kitchen with a part-scowl, part-smirk on his face. Daniel backed up quickly and Jared just laughed, pulling me into the same position Danny had me in before lifting me upright and planting a sloppy wet kiss on my face.

"No fornicating in the kitchen, children."

"Mom!" Danny and I groaned at the same time.

She just laughed, and my father, who stood behind her in the living room, shook his head and gave us a 'she's your mother, what are you gonna do?' kind of look. We got this look quite often. Let's just say that both of us kids knew from an early age which parent ruled the roost and which one just sat back and pretended to have a say-so in things.

"Okay!" mom said, clapping her hands. "Who's ready to go eat Christmas lunch?" No one in our house cooked except for dad, and none of us were brave enough to eat more than a few select dishes he made, especially not a big holiday meal. We'd all probably end up with stomach cancer or something equally as horrifying.

Jared raised his hand and I laughed at him, patting his stomach and pushing him out of the kitchen. I placed a sheet of saran wrap over the pan of cookies I planned to pop in the oven as soon as we got back from the restaurant in Port Angeles and threw them in the fridge, then slipped my knee-high heeled boots on under my jeans and walked out the front door only to be greeted by an ashen Daniel, two excited parents, a confused Jared, and Tess, who's pants were now clearly soaked in the front.

"Seriously?" I asked in a deadpanned voice.

"Kimberly! Get the keys to the SUV! Your dad and I will take Tess and Danny to the hospital in Forks. You and Jared follow in the Jeep. Go, go, go, people! My grandson is coming! Go!" my mom screeched at us, clapping her hands erratically again.

I trotted back into the house to get the keys to dad's monster SUV, hurrying as quickly as my legs would take me for fear of displeasing my incredibly excited mother. As soon as I could get the keys to my dad, I pushed Jared aside as he tried to slide into MY driver's seat. He huffed but knew better than to say anything as I hopped in and waited for the SUV to back out of the driveway.

I'm pretty sure that we've never gotten to Forks so fast, ever, even considering that I just so happened to inherit my maniacally wicked pedal-to-the-medal driving skills from my father, who never adhered to speed limits or yellow lights anywhere we went. So, saying that we got there fast was definitely an understatement. Mom must've been flipping out.

Jared kept his hand close to some part of my body the whole ride there, probably thinking that if we were about to wreck he'd jerk me out in the nick of time.

After we got to the hospital and dropped Tess, Danny, and mom off at the front entrance, dad and I found parking spots out in the middle of nowhere and rushed into the emergency room, only to be ushered into a cramped waiting area, all the while dad having a frantic phone conversation with Tess's parents.

While dad paced in the lobby, Jared and I sat down at the only place we could find: on the floor in a corner.

"It's Christmas in FORKS. Why the hell are there so many people here?" Jared groaned.

"Well. Maybe they fell stringing Christmas lights, or caught themselves on fire while trying to cook the ham. Or maybe some of them could be here for the same reason my dad's uncle Kane had to come to the hospital three years ago. My grandpa was drunk and stabbed him in the leg with a carving knife for taking the last piece of cherry cobbler. I don't see why, though. It was disgusting."

Jared looked at me like I'd grown an extra nose and four eyes. "Your grandpa stabbed his brother on Christmas over…dessert?"

"I told you my family was crazy. You met them over Thanksgiving. Could you not tell or something?"

"Well, they were kind of weird, but not 'Cops: Christmas Eve Edition' weird." I laughed and his grin widened as he pulled me into his side, placing a kiss on my temple.

"So how long do you think we'll be here?"

"Who knows? With the way my mom is carrying on, the baby is probably trying the turn around and crawl his way back up the birth canal. I wouldn't blame him."

Jared cringed.

As if she had a sixth sense that I had been talking about her, my phone vibrated in my pocket and the caller I.D. on the front screen alerted my that it was my mother.

"Mom? I thought you weren't allowed to have cell phones in the patients' rooms?"

"Shut-up, Kim. Tell your father to hurry up and find out where Tessa's parents are, would ya? A girl just needs her mother for these kinds of things."

Before I could respond I heard her hang up the phone and the dial tone follow. With a huff, I stood up, pulling Jared (or trying to) with me and headed towards my obviously frazzled father.

Six hours and thirty-seven minutes later, I found myself sitting in an arm chair next to Tess's hospital bed holding a squirming blue bundle named Wes to my chest, cooing down at the little infant's scrunched up face as my mother looked on in a mixture of amusement and sheer happiness.

Ten minutes after that, I found myself being shoved out of the hospital room so that the newly expanded family could have some peace, then told to go to Emily's and not to be back home until well after midnight so that my parents could have some "Christmas private time."

I love my mother.

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Emily's house was complete and utter chaos, even more so than it usually was.

The entirety of Sam's pack was present, including the seven newbies, and this was probably the first pack gathering at which the weight of the three missing members that now made up the second pack wasn't weighing as heavily on everyone as it had been.

There was a huge Christmas tree in the corner of the living room that was so wide it blocked half of the television, and a slew of presents were littered beneath it. From my perch on the kitchen table I could practically inhale the deliciousness that was Emily's cooking. I watched as Emily and Ray bustled around the kitchen, finishing up side dishes and putting the final touches on baked goods. The only job I had was to keep the wolves (and Claire) out of the kitchen, which, I'll admit, was super easy. All I had to do was crane my neck so that I could see into the living room and glare at Jared, at which point he would hastily get up from the sofa and push the offending canine(s) back out of the room for me. I'd smile and wink at him, he'd turn into a pile of blubbering mush, and then I'd go back to apologizing to Emily for having zero/zip/nada domestic skills and for being absolutely no help at all.

Various banging noises kept coming from the rest of the house, usually accompanied or followed by loud screaming and laughter. Claire could be heard squealing at whichever wolf was bothering her at the time, and Quil kept coming into the kitchen carting her with him and throwing exasperated looks towards his friends. Sam, Paul and Jared were unconsciously taking turns coming into the kitchen where Emily, Rachel and I were, not being able to stay away for very long like the lovesick puppies they were. Billy Black, Sue Clearwater and Old Quil all sat on the porch trying to avoid the pandemonium occurring inside the tiny house.

The next few hours were spent eating and laughing and embarrassing the shit out of each other before Claire finally demanded that it was "present time." Quil all but tripped over himself in his haste to obey her command while the rest of us made room for the two to squish in beside the Christmas tree. Claire had decided that she would be the Christmas elf, thus forcing Quil to play Santa, much to the amusement of Paul who supplied him with a bright red velvet hat and a white cotton beard for the occasion.

"Umm, hell freaking NO, I'm not wearing that!" Quil had said, shaking his head and crossing his arms when Paul produced the costume after he and Rachel arrived with Billy.

"Yeah, you are. And if you won't do it on your own, you know I'll just suggest it to Claire." Paul put on his infamous shit-eating grin and Quil slumped, begrudgingly accepting defeat.

When Quil handed me a gift bag from Emily, I'd whispered to him that me and Rachel were already plotting to get back at Paul, and a happy smile stayed on the kid's face the rest of the night.

After "present time" and a brief pack meeting, a few of the younger kids like Derek and Cole went home for the night, Quil left to take Claire back to her parents, Brady, Collin, Blade and Travis went on patrol, and the rest of us piled into the living room to watch _A Christmas Carol._

I sat nestled between Jared and Takala, or Tala, as she'd asked us to call her, on the floor. Us wolf girls had taken her on as sort of a little sister when we could pry her away from Embry, seeing as her mom couldn't have cared less about her. Rachel had taken her shopping last weekend, Emily acted as a sort of second mom for her, making sure she had food, a place to sleep, and clothes, and I had just hung out with her, watching movies, giving her advice, having random conversations (my specialty), and helping her stay caught up in school.

In fact, keeping the younger wolves, including Brady and Collin, in school and making sure they graduated had become my normal side's main goal, and much to the chagrin of them all. (The supernatural side was determined to find a way to be present at this little Volturi meeting, a problem which had been solved for the most part with the help of the unknowing Bella. That side was also very focused on becoming much, much stronger.)

About halfway through the movie, after I noticed Emily and a few others dozing off, I nudged Jared and nodded my head towards the doorway.

We said our goodbyes and headed out to his truck, which he insisted on driving after arguing that I drove everywhere and it was his turn. Pulling slowly out of the driveway, he drove with his left hand while clasping my hand in his other.

"I can't take you home yet, Kimbo. We still have an hour until midnight."

We both laughed. "No, I suppose not. Not if we don't want to be scarred for life. Whatever shall we do?"

"I can think of a few things that I wanna do with you." He looked over at me and waggled his eyebrows, smirking at me and flashing his teeth with a growl.

"Nasty."

"What? I was GOING to suggest that we go to my house and play cards with my parents. It's a Christmas tradition, but I guess if it's too hardcore for you we'll just go park in your driveway and sit there twiddling our thumbs till midnight."

"You guys have a card-playing tradition on Christmas Day night? That's so cute!" I completely ignored his little sarcastic jab at my prudish virginalness.

"Yeah. It started when I was little and got Uno Attack one year as a stocking stuffer, or whatever it is that my mom calls it. I refused to go to bed that night unless I got to play one more time, and it just kind of stuck."

"Aww. Little Jared, the card shark."

"I am pretty beast at some cards," he said, plastering a cocky look on his face.

"I bet I'd win." He scoffed at me.

"Doubtful, Kimberly. Doubtful."

"Remember that day on the beach after you first imprinted on me, and I told you that you should never, ever call me that?"

He audibly gulped and tightened his grip around my hand, nodding hesitantly.

"Well, you called me Kimberly again. So please believe me when I say that there WILL be consequences."

"What if I let you call me Jerry-Berry -Boo in front of the pack for a whole day?"

I laughed and widened my eyes. This boy had gone and lost his marbles!

"Where did THAT come from?. That's disgusting! Why would I call you that in front of other people and risk making myself look like a jackass? I don't think so. We'll just have to come up with something better than that."

"Like what, Kimbo? What could be more embarrassing than that?"

"Who said it had to be something embarrassing?" We pulled into his driveway as I ended my sentence, sitting in silence after he killed the engine and turned towards me, taking my hand in both of his and playing with the promise ring on my finger.

Whispering his name, I broke the comfortable silence that had settled over us. "Jared?"

"Yeah, beautiful?" he breathed with a smile. My smile.

"You can come back in one piece this weekend. If you want to make it up to me, come back to me."

"Oh, Kim," he said with a sigh, pulling me across the console between our seats and into his lap.

I sat there a minute, enjoying how it felt to be in his lap with his arms around me encased in darkness. Rationally, I knew he'd be okay, because I knew of events in the future that involved a very much alive Jared. I knew everyone would probably come out of the ordeal without so much as a permanent scratch, and at the very least alive, but I still hated the idea that he even had to go out there to face the bloodsuckers in the first place. I hated that he was going to be in danger regardless of whether he saw the other side of it or not.

"You know I can't promise that. We've talked about this, Kim. I-"

"I know. You can't promise you'll come back because you've never faced anything like this, but you promise you'll try. I know."

He smiled into my hair and kissed my head. "Love you," he murmured.

"Ditto."

"My mom's coming out." We both groaned.

I kissed him quickly and crawled back over to my side of the truck, only to hear Jared's mom Dana's laughter as I hopped out and to the ground.

Smiling, I grabbed Jared's had and walked up to the porch, giving Dana a one-armed hug before Jared dragged me into the living room.

"Someone's eager to get beat at Uno." He laughed.

"Doubtful, Kimbo. Doubtful."

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I promise, things are going to get more eventful from the next chapter on. I'm not a very big fan of filler chapters myself, but I'm excited to get through the next chapter so I can stop consulting the lexicon and do my own things with these characters! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you thought! **


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: YES! THIS IS AN UPDATE! Please don't go into shock, as it is only NINE DAYS since my last post. (I also feel compelled to mention that this is the LONGEST chapter I've ever written, as well.) This chapter has been sitting in my head for months now, and I'm SO ready to be able to stop referring to the lexicon that I just couldn't wait to write it and share it with you guys. **

******I really appreciate all you guys reviewing and favoriting and what not. I NEVER expected this story and it's plot to garner so much interest, but I'm glad it has! I was SO sick of Kim always being weak and boring and having NO dynamic whatsoever, and a lot of you have expressed that in your reviews. So thanks so much! **

******And, as always, don't forget to review after you read! As I said, I REALLY appreciate all the feedback. It keeps me motivated and lights a fire under my butt to keep me going! **

******ALSO!: If you want to see pictures of my OCs and the wolf pack, check out my photobucket account. The link is in my profile.**

******Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own Twilight, nor do I own NCIS.**

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Being holed up for thirty six hours straight in my brother's living room left me with entirely too much time on my hands, during which I had nothing to do but think because the books in this house were either for expectant moms or about something related to math. Neither topic was very appealing to me, so, I thought. I thought a lot about absolutely nothing.

Thirty-six and a half hours ago, Jared had placed me into my parents SUV and shut the door with a single wave goodbye, looking like he was getting ready to have a stroke at the thought of being away from me. I'd even managed to leak a few tears of my own for the occasion. I was really becoming quite the actress and getting better all the time at playing the part of a weak, innocent and unknowing imprint.

I have to admit, I was pretty proud of myself. At least, I was proud until I had to fight down the guilt I had from more or less lying through my teeth to my soul mate.

The plan to get myself back to my house all the while making sure Jared never knew about it had been difficult to come up with, and when I say difficult I mean difficult as in Jared refused to leave my side at all the four days before he and the pack were to go wait in the clearing with Jake's pack and the friendly leeches for the arrival of the Volturi. It's kind of hard to scheme behind someone's back when they'll hardly give you two minutes to go to the bathroom without coming and banging on the door to make sure you're okay. That's a true story, by the way.

So, as it was, I'd been forced to come up with something much more elaborate than necessary, and all via text messaging between myself and my brother when he wasn't busy with Tess and the new baby.

Danny, being the awesome older brother that he was, had taken my Jeep under the premise that he was getting upgrades for it in Seattle as a Christmas gift for me. In reality, he drove it down one of the off-roading trails on the outskirts of Forks and left it there, at which point my dad picked him up and drove him back to the hospital where Tess and his son still were. After my parents and I had left Jared behind the day we were supposed to be going to Port Angeles to stay, they would drop me off to pick up the Jeep, and I would drive it to Danny's house, at which point I would leave it concealed in his garage and from there prep his dirt bike for use so that if it became necessary, I could get myself to the clearing where the pack was.

I had just decided to avoid going back to my house altogether because who knew how long Jared would sit in my driveway before leaving or how many times he would run by it while the pack patrolled around the clock for the next couple of days?

If I was constantly worried about avoiding detection, there was no way I'd be rested enough to be able to throw up a shield at a moment's notice miles away from where it had to be placed, regardless of how easily I could seek out Bella's powers.

So, in my brother's house was where I sat.

Sat. And thought. And then thought. And then thought some more.

I ran over the details of just about everything I knew concerning this supernatural world I lived in, both ones that I knew and details I wish I DID know, making a brief mental list of them in my mind.

First, I knew that Alice had gone off somewhere, and though I wasn't sure why, I was positive that she wouldn't have abandoned her family, if that's what you could call the Cullens. I was certain that, contrary to what everyone thought, she had some kind of ulterior motive for leaving with Jasper the way that she did.

Second, I knew that my grandmother had neglected to tell me about this little summit thing. She managed to tell me about Renesmee, but nothing about this? Why? Was there some kind of lesson to be learned from this? If it was another one of her plots to make my life more "interesting," then I wasn't going to be too happy a camper. Of course, I'd never know if it was, but still, it made me worry that she hadn't told me. Was there a reason? Did she not want me to worry? Did something happen or did we, in fact, lose someone? Perhaps one of the new wolves? I hadn't known them well and she'd never mentioned them when she spun stories of my future that she'd seen in her visions.

She told me about the imprint with Jared, but never told me whether or not he'd accept me for what I was or forgive me for not being truthful with him about something so big. Was this yet another way for her to make sure I lived some semblance of a normal life, or did she know that something bad was going to happen and we were going to be torn apart, so she didn't tell me to spare me years of premature heartache?

Another thing she never mentioned was the outcome of my future showdown with the Volturi, if it could be called that. I didn't know when it would happen, just that it was inevitable, and I didn't know if I could ensure everyone's survival, including my own.

It was quickly becoming very obvious that the list of things I didn't know was substantially larger than the list of things I did know.

WHY were there no good books here, damn it?

So then I took up pacing.

I paced for five hours straight, I think, before eating a sandwich and a half and two bowls of cereal, then preoccupied myself with flickering the lights in the living room on and off with my mind while simultaneously using it to take out and then reshelf the contents of the kitchen cabinets, testing my power's multitasking capabilities.

Dawn broke on the last day of the year, a Sunday, and I watched the sun break over the horizon through the blinds in the bathroom in the back of the house, fidgeting for a few moments before turning to head out to the porch, reaching out with my mind and checking to make sure nothing, especially a certain werewolf, was in the near vicinity before stepping outside.

I'd done this once every few hours since I'd been here, attempting to stay on top of things that were going on a few miles away. I'd go out on the porch and send a rush of adrenaline shooting through my body, reaching out into the forest around me until I could feel Jared. He was ridiculously easy for me to find, and undoubtedly because of the imprint. It convinced me with an unshakable certainty that imprinting, in fact, worked both ways.

Once I felt Jared, I felt around him, familiarizing myself even further with not only the Cullens, but also the vampires who were acting as witnesses for Nessie. The pack was easily distinguishable. Their presence and auras in general were entirely different from those of the vampires, which I'm sure would be immensely pleasing information to them.

Normally, I spent an hour doing this each time I went out, but this morning, something felt off. I wasn't sure if I was actually feeling something different, or if it was just instinct, but I felt unsettled for some reason.

I reached out past the group, going further and further, but finding nothing. I kept my senses trained on the area for what felt like hours until finally, when the sun was halfway in the sky, I felt something.

I felt a BIG something.

There had to have been AT LEAST fifty entities moving towards the clearing where the pack was stationed.

Holy shit, were they ever outnumbered!

I pulled back, searching out Bella, preparing myself to back her up whether it was necessary or not. I had no idea how powerful she was. Hell, I had no idea exactly how powerful I was, but I was sure that together, whether we needed each other or would be fine on our own, and regardless of whether or not she knew I was there, we would be able to protect our families.

Nerves bubbled up in my stomach and I peripherally sought Jared out again, all the while keeping my senses trained on Bella. As soon as I felt him, I could feel myself calming down.

No sooner than I'd pushed the nerves down, the enemy was upon them. The vast amount of power they had and the extent of the gifts they were all endowed with sent ripples through me.

I didn't have preternatural hearing or vision, and I wasn't an empath or a mind reader, but I could feel the tension practically overflowing in that clearing. The wolves were pacing in the trees, the friendly vampires remained still but uneasy nonetheless, and from the Volturi I could sense an almost giddy feeling, at least from the more distinct presences among the group.

I felt some odd kind of disturbance, and I instantly knew that someone had been killed because I felt the loss of subsistence. I instantly stiffened and turned towards Daniel's shed, ready to bolt for the bike if chaos ensued. Interestingly enough, though, only a few of those in the clearing seemed to move at all, and knew nothing could've happened to the pack or the Cullens because if it had, there would've been a much more substantial reaction.

So I waited. I trained my focus back on Bella, and waited. There wasn't really anything else I could do at the moment.

And that's when I felt an uneasiness start to bubble from every facet of both sides. I spread my senses back out, trying to feel for anything foreign or suspicious.

Then, I felt Bella throw up her shield, and I instantly closed my eyes, collapsing onto the porch steps and clinging to the railing as I put as much power behind our wall as possible.

Not long after, I felt something probing. Something was pushing at the shield, trying to get past it, and I only pushed my diaphragm out harder and increased the strength and size of the wall.

Whatever it was, it wanted in, and badly, but that wasn't happening. The harder it tried to get in, the harder I pushed back at it. I could feel Bella doing the same, and briefly wondered if she could feel me there with her.

I was about to step off the porch to walk towards the edge of the woods, hoping that if I got closer to them, the strength of my shield around them would increase, when several others entered the clearing, throwing my concentration off a bit.

Bella lowered her shield, but I kept mine up. I didn't know who had entered the clearing, but I knew that at least two of them were vampires. One, however, felt different, but still familiar. Whoever it was felt like—Nessie.

They felt like Nessie!

Please, God, let this be Alice!

Not ten minutes after the newcomers arrived, the Volturi began to retreat.

They retreated. No battle had been fought. No bloodshed had occurred. Well, no bloodshed that really mattered, anyway.

They were all fine.

Jared was fine.

I heaved a sigh of relief and sat back on the porch steps, following the Volturi through the woods for as far as my powers would allow before collapsing backwards and retracting both my shield and my "sixth sense."

I quickly put up a shield around the house to conceal my scent and any of the noises I'd be making in the next few hours. Almost as soon as I made it back in the house, my cell phone began to vibrate harshly on the kitchen table. I didn't need to check the caller I.D. to know who it was.

Flipping my phone open, I screamed, "JARED? ARE YOU OKAY? IS IT OVER? ARE YOU OKAY? JARED?"

Go, Kimbo! (Told you guys I was becoming quite the actress.)

"KIM! Kim, I'm fine. We're all fine. We didn't get to kill any vamps but everyone's okay and I'm coming home! GOD, I love you. I love you so much, Kimbo. I'm coming home! I was worried for like a second when they totally just came down hard on this one vamp—don't worry though, she kinda had it coming—and then again when they tried to use some kind of magic crap this one leech girl had on us to get us to turn on each other, but then Bella threw up this shield and they couldn't get through so they got pissed. They looked like they were gonna try to attack us again but the pixie vamp showed up with some weird half-vamp kid like Nessie and there was some little argument but then they just LEFT. They're gone, and they aren't coming back. They saw us, too, and personally I think they were pretty intimidated by us, but they LEFT and I'm coming home and as soon as I see you we're making out for like, fifteen hours straight. I swear to God, Kim, my mouth is not leaving yours, other people be damned. I LOVE you!"

All I could do was laugh at him and his obvious, BLATANTLY obvious excitement.

"Well, the fifteen hours of macking is up for debate, but I love you too, baby. Thank God, you're okay. I miss you. When can I come home?"

I bit my lip, praying to God that he wasn't on his way to Port Angeles right now.

"Kim, silly, I just got in my truck! I'm on my way to Port Angeles right now to get you. I can't wait to see you, Kim."

Oh. Fuck.

Still on the phone, I ripped open the drawer by the refrigerator, frantically searching for the keys to Tess's Toyota Camry.

"Well, big boy, you better hurry your furry ass over here. I'll be waiting for you."

I heard his throaty chuckle in my ear before he said, "Your wish is my command. I love you. I'll see you soon. Bye, beautiful." Then he hung up.

"SHIT!" I screamed, finally finding the keys and running as fast as I could out to the car, quickly calling Daniel to let him know I was stealing his wife's car before calling my dad.

"Hey, Kim-Kim. Everything okay?"

"For the sake of time, I am going to pretend you didn't call me that! Jared is on his way there RIGHT NOW, and he's in a big hurry because apparently he really, REALLY wants to make out with me or something, and I stole Tess's car and I'm on my way there now, too, but he's still going to beat me there and I really just need you to stall for me, pretty please? OKAY. I love you. Thanks. Bye, daddy!"

I flipped my phone shut, throwing it into the seat with a huff.

I gripped the steering wheel with both hands so hard that my knuckles turned white and sped off towards the one-oh-one. It looked like I was going to be doing some serious low-altitude flying that afternoon.

A trip that should've taken me about an hour and a half was cut down to just above fifty minutes. How I didn't get pulled over can in no way be accredited to my powers. I was entirely too focused on getting to Port Angeles to search the road for Washington's finest. Nope. Sheer luck prevented me from getting a ticket.

As soon as I pulled into the city, my phone vibrated.

"Yeah?"

"Kim, that is NO WAY to speak to your mother!"

"Sorry mom. Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Nice try, Kimberly. I was calling to tell you that Jared's here. Apparently he had to come up to get a few things for his mother and thought he'd stop by. Wasn't that nice?"

Jared was under the impression that my parents had no idea about his little furry secret. I'd had to tell him that in order to get my parents to agree to go to Port Angeles for a long weekend with me in tow, I'd paid for a room for three in the city as a Christmas gift. My mom would be able to visit some of her friends she went to college with, and my dad would get to sit in the hotel room and do nothing but sleep and watch television for a few days straight.

Of course, just like anything else I tell him, he bought it.

"Really? GREAT. Tell him to wait there. I'm about three blocks away. I walked into this little corner store on my way back from the park. I'll be there in a few minutes."

I knew he'd be able to hear me through the phone, and I hoped my mother realized it.

"Alright, Kimberly. Be careful. See you in a few."

"Bye mom."

I arrived at the hotel three minutes later, looking for a place I could stash Tess's car where Jared wouldn't be able to see it. That may be a little hard to explain.

Finally, I found a spot behind the building, a few feet to the left of the hotel's dumpster and slid in, brakes squealing.

I'd have to buy Tess some new brake pads, I guess.

Luckily, I'd had the foresight to ask my parents where exactly their room was located, and somehow flew expertly inside a backdoor and up three flights of stairs before bursting out of the stairwell and into a quiet hallway, nearly tripping over the edge of the red velvet-like rug in front of the doorway. I heard laughter and looked up to see Jared walking towards me with a thousand-watt grin plastered across his smokin' hot face. I didn't even have time to respond before being thrown over his shoulder and spun around in circles in the hallway.

"JARED! Put me down!" I screamed, half-heartedly. It was actually quite enjoyable, and I kept on giggling and snorting hysterically even though I was quickly becoming nauseas.

He slapped his hand across my butt with a sharp bark of laughter, and it wasn't until a throat cleared loudly that we realized we weren't alone.

Jared turned to face the source of the interruption and I, still upside down, peeked sheepishly past his hip, the world still spinning. I saw an older gentleman giving us a stern look before raising an eyebrow and retreating into his room muttering something about 'young love.'

Jared laughed again and set me back on my feet, not even giving me time to adjust before dragging me into the stairwell and pushing me against the door as soon as it shut, picking me up and slamming his mouth onto mine as I wrapped my legs around his waist.

"I…missed…you," he murmured between kisses.

All I could do was nod in response as he pressed his lips even harder to mine. Not ten seconds later, a loud knock resounded next to my head and Jared and I groaned.

"KIM! WHAT are you doing?"

Ugh. My mother ruins everything.

Jared made a silly face at me before giving me a cute little Eskimo kiss and removing my legs from around him.

"We'll finish this later, Kimbo," he leaned down and whispered into my ear. All I could do was smile and blush as he reached behind be and pushed open the door, grabbing my hand as we went to face the firing squad.

My mom glared at me and pointed towards their room. I just shrugged and moved to follow in the direction that her finger was pointing, but was immediately stopped when Jared tugged me back to him.

"Umm, Mrs. Connweller-"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Amelia, Jared?"

"Right. Sorry. Amelia. I was wondering if maybe…if it wouldn't be too much trouble if…if it would be okay if…"

"Spit it out, Jared." My mom looked bored, but had a lazy smile plastered on her face.

"Can I take Kim back to La Push with me now? You know, for what I told you about earlier?"

Mom sobered up, instantly taking on a superior, authoritative air.

"What are you talking about, Jare?" I asked, sounded thoroughly confused and annoyed. I hated not knowing things.

This made my mom smile again, and she nodded. "Yeah, 'JARE,'" she mocked, throwing a smirk my way. "You can take Kimmy back to La Push with you. Kim, just make sure you go say hel-err, bye to your father first."

Jared gave me a funny look but I pretended not to notice. "Do you need me to help you get your stuff, Kimbo?"

I blanched, trying not to let my face fall. I had no stuff for us to get. Ah, crap. Think, Kim, think!

"Umm, mom and dad will bring it back for me. All our stuff's mixed in together, anyway."

"Oh. Okay. Well, you ready?"

"Yeah. Give me one sec." I ran into my parent's hotel room, finding my dad exactly where I knew he'd be: leaning against the headboard of the bed watching re-runs of NCIS.

"HEY! It's my favorite daughter!"

"Hey daddy." I moved over to hug him, whispering as quietly as I could in his ear, "Thanks for covering for me with Jared."

He nodded, kissing my cheek and patting me on the back.

"Well, I'm going back to La Push with Jared. Guess I'll see you at home tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, sweetie. Be careful. Call if you need anything."

I smiled and hugged him again before leaving the room and heading towards Jared.

After hugging my mom and enduring a five minute lecture on the appropriate behavior of unwed teens, I followed Jared out to his truck where he proceeded to maul me (briefly, of course) before picking me up and putting me into the passenger seat, going so far as to buckle me in, too.

"Geez, mom, you want to put me in a car seat, too? Or maybe wrap me in bubble wrap or something, while you're at it?"

He laughed at me, pecking my lips and whispering, "Don't give me any ideas. I can't be too careful with my Kimbo, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

As he went around to his side and got in, I quickly texted my dad to tell him where I'd parked Tess's car. After Jared was in and had the car turned on, he reached across the console and grabbed my hand.

"So, why does your mom get to call you Kimmy and I can't?"

"I'll make a deal with you."

"Okay. Shoot," he said, glancing over at me before pulling into the road.

"If you tell me what you were talking to my mom about, then I'll let you call me Kimmy for a week."

"Just a week? No can do. Sorry, Kim."

"A month? Two months? FOUR months, Jared. FOUR MONTHS." I was getting desperate, but he just kept shaking his head after each offer.

"Sorry, Kim. It's gotta be a permanent thing, or there's no deal."

I was squealing quietly and bouncing up and down in my seat at this point, unwilling to let him call me that a thousand times a day for the rest of my life but determined to figure out what plans had the wheels in his mind turning a mile a minute.

He just laughed at me and lifted my hand up to his mouth to kiss my knuckles.

"I guess you'll just to have to wait and see what I've got up my sleeve, huh, Kim?" he smirked.

With a huff, I tried to jerk my hand away from his in an attempt to force him to tell me, but he wouldn't let me go, and I finally gave up.

"Fine, Jared. You win."

He kissed my knuckles again and smiled my smile at me before turning back to the road.

Ugh. There was no way I could stay upset at him when he smiled my smile, and he knew it.

Grumbling, I squeezed his hand that held mine and looked at his profile.

He looked happy and completely at ease. He was a totally different Jared than the one I went home with on Christmas.

Guilt at my deceit washed over me for the umpteenth time in the past few weeks, and Jared immediately looked over at me worriedly, able to sense my change of mood.

"Kim, are you alright?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Just nervous about what you have planned. You know I hate surprises."

He visibly relaxed. "Chill, Kimbo. It's nothing big, I promise."

"Sure, sure."

"I love you." He looked over at me with wide puppy eyes, and I laughed.

"What?" He asked with a smile.

"You're giving me puppy eyes."

He glared playfully at me before joining in my laughter.

We quieted down as he pulled onto the 101. He retracted his hand from mine to set the cruise control but quickly grabbed it again before I had a chance to move it. He twirled the promise ring around on my finger a couple of times before lacing his fingers back through mine.

"Jared?"

"Yeah, Kim?"

"I love you, too." We both smiled at each other for like, the millionth time in twenty minutes.

"There's a bonfire tonight. And I have something for you. That's the surprise." He cringed. "I'm too easy. All you have to do is say those three little words to me and my mouth just goes and flaps away."

I laughed and shook my head. "Well, since you told me that, I'll try my very best not to ask what it is that you have for me."

"Thanks, Kimbo."

"Anytime, Jare-bear."

He groaned and scrunched his nose up. "Ugh. If I can't call you Kimmy, then you can't call me Jare-bear."

"But I love you!"

"Fine. You can—WAIT! No! SEE? Flap, flap, flap."

I snorted into my fist. God, I loved this boy.

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**A/N: There you have it, folks! Hope you enjoyed it!**

**To answer a question that I've been getting A LOT lately:**

**~I have a few more things planned before the "Alaska Chapter," as it were. I'm determined to have this story finished by the end of the year, so you guys won't have to wait TOO long. Also, depending on how I decide to end the story, there may or may not be a sequel in the works! Exciting, huh?**

**Again, thanks so much for reading! Please review and let me know what you thought and what you liked/didn't like. :-]]**

**~darkgoddess**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: So sorry for the late chapter. Computer crashes are good for delaying updates. And now, without any further yada yada from me, I give you chapter 17. Please let me know what you think in a review! **

**Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own Twilight. **

**Dedication: This one's for Hinata'sInnerUniverse, who lit a fire under my butt in an e-mail. Sorry this is so much later than I told you it would be! Hope the longer chapter makes up for it, and thank you for sticking with my story so faithfully!**

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I stared at the burning embers of the bonfire through a big gap between two large pieces of driftwood from where I sat between Jared's legs, leaning back against his chest and basking in the warmth that assaulted me from all sides. My body shook with Jared's as he laughed at Paul, who was trying to convince Rachel that skinny dipping with him in the middle of winter was a good idea. Needless to say, the poor kid was failing miserably.

The whole pack, aside from Sam and Quil, who'd gone to Makah to spend the last night of the year with their imprints' family, and Jacob's pack who were celebrating with the Cullens, sat around the fire, laughing and eating junk food since neither myself nor Rachel could cook anything worth a damn. Some of the newer members of the pack were regaling the two of us with exaggerated stories of their first "epic" battle, as they called it. Blade seemed especially interested in gaining my attention, and every time he'd try to flirt with me, Jared would growl and wrap his arms tighter around my shoulders, then glare daggers at him just for good measure.

Ever since I'd gotten in his face and ordered him to do his homework, and not just some but all of it, he'd had a thing for me, much to Jared's dismay, who ended up spending a lot of time grumbling about the pitfalls of my studiousness and the disgustingness that was Blade's obsession with being dominated by a female.

"Aww, c'mon Rachel! Hey, I'll even concede a little bit and let you keep those sexy lace undies of yours on. Then, you won't be skinny dipping!"

"Paul Stone, if you are particularly fond of the location of your favorite appendage, you will shut your damn mouth."

"But Rachel-" All it took was a glare from the Alpha's sister and the usually hot-tempered and dominating wolf seemed to shrink into a pout, throwing pitiful glances her way until she took pity upon him and gave him a not-so-chaste kiss, which earned the pair a few whoops and whistles.

I laughed along with the rest of the rowdy bunch, but was cut off abruptly when Jared kissed my cheek gently, whispering in my ear that it was time for my surprise. I'm sure that if it hadn't been for his hot breath that had blown across my ear and neck, making me shiver and sending cold chills down my spine, I would have jumped up and dragged him along with me towards his truck. But, as it were, I was rendered immobile by the simplest of actions, and with a light laugh, Jared took hold of my shoulders and hauled me up as he stood, nodding his head at his brothers and enveloping my hand in his much bigger one before leading me down the beach—in the opposite direction of his truck.

"Umm, Jared, isn't the truck that way?" I said, angling myself away from him and jabbing my thumb over my shoulder with a confused grin plastered on my face.

"Well, if you want to go the truck we can turn around, but your surprise is this way." He smiled my smile and tugged me along behind him, not waiting for a reply.

We ambled along the dark beach in silence for awhile, long enough to get so far away from the fire that it looked like a small speck of light in the distance, before I could no longer hold in my curiosity.

"Before you ask, Kim, we're almost there, and no, I'm not going to tell you, so just forget that sad little pout you're about to put on that pretty face of yours, because I'm not going to look."

I stopped immediately, intrigued yet borderline disturbed that he'd more or less read my mind, but Jared didn't realize in time that I wasn't moving with him anymore and ended up jerking me forward via the ironclad grip he had on my hand. If he hadn't been a werewolf with super awesome reflexes, there would've been major face planting slash sand eating.

"Oh my God, Kimbo! Are you alright? Oh my God. I'm so sorry!" He let go of my hand, only to wrap his arms around my torso so he could lift me up to his eyelevel.

"It's okay. You managed to save the day, my super wolf man. No harm done."

He sat me back on my feet and proceeded to skim his hands over every—well, almost every—surface of my body, inspecting me for various traumas and injuries despite my protests.

"Okay. You're fine. Are you fine?" I nodded. "Are you sure you're fine, Kim? Because we can go back and I can take you home if-"

"Jared, if you don't give me my damn surprise, I am going to kill you. I don't know how, and I'll have to get super creative, but mark my words. I. Will. Kill. You."

His eyes widened before he smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry. I tend to get a bit excited when it comes to you, especially you getting hurt."

"Jared, excited doesn't even cover it. Maybe worry in the excess does, or even exuberance to the max. Need I go on?"

"No, that's-"

"Superabundantly concerned. Superfluously anxious."

"Kim-"

"Fervent botheration."

"Kimbo-"

"Profuse disquiet."

"Kim, we're here."

"A cornucopia of-oh! We're here?"

He just laughed at me as I looked around, barely managing not to jump up and down in my excitement. "Yes, Ms. Thesaurus, we're here. Speaking of, do you read the thesaurus? Because I have no idea what half of those insults meant, so I'm just going to pretend-"

"Jared," I said, completely ignoring his little speech. "Where exactly is 'here?'"

"You know that loop road off of Ocean Front Drive that's closer to the beach? It's right through those trees. That's where we're going."

"Why are we going there?" I murmured as he began walking towards the woods.

"You'll see, Kim. Just be patient. Two more minutes, that's all I'm asking of you."

"Fine, fine." He kissed my cheek and motioned for me to hop on his back as we reached the tree line.

Three and a half minutes and three spider webs to the face later, we stepped into a small clearing. I wasn't able to make out much, but I could see what looked like a rusty shack directly in front of me and a small, run down ranch style house sitting just off to the left of it.

"Jared, what is this?"

"It's my house. Well, our house, if you want it to be, that is. I was running patrols in the woods off the beach and ran into it. I know it's a fixer-upper, but we've got a couple years and I thought that we could make it our own, you know? We could add onto it and remodel the hell out of it."

My arms went slack around his neck and I felt my eyes bug out of my head.

"Oh, baby, this doesn't have to happen right away. I just thought that one day, when you got done with school and I stopped phasing and got a full time job, we'd make it official and get married and move in together and start a—Kim? Kim, I'm sorry. I thought that you'd—I thought we were on the same page. It's the imprinting, you know? I just get wrapped up in thinking about being with you all the time and I guess I take for granted that it moves slower for you and—Kim, baby, can you say something?"

"Put me down." He rushed to set me back on my feet and backed away like a wounded animal.

I had absolutely no idea what to say. He bought a house. He bought a house! He bought a house and didn't ask me about it. But he bought a house! He bought a house and wanted to get married and start what I assumed would be a family. He wanted to stop phasing so he could marry me and live with me and—and he was quitting something he loved because of me.

Cue the typical guilty Kim nausea.

He was going to stop phasing and I was lying to him. He wanted to stop phasing for me, wanted to give up so much for me, wanted to build a life with me, and I couldn't even tell him the truth.

I started walking toward the house, trying in vain to control my inner monologue and keep my composure. I barely made it past the shed before I sat down in the middle of the backyard and broke down.

For the second time that night, Jared had a semi-panic attack. "KIM! Kim, I'm so sorry. I am SO sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'll sell it. I'll go straight home in the morning and I'll put it back on the market. I'll put it back on the market and I'll never do something so thoughtless and inconsiderate ever again. I'm sorry, baby. So sorry. Sam and the guys said I should ask you first but I wanted to surprise you, you know? And I asked your dad for advice and he said the same thing, but he and your mom and my parents said if we wanted to do this they'd support our decision and help out if we needed it, and I just got so ahead of myself, you know? I'm so sorry, Kimbo. I-"

I shook my head, interrupting his rambling with a watery smile.

"You…you…you bought a house. You bought a house for me and you want to move in with me and… marry me and stop phasing for me and I don't deserve any of it."

"Kim, what are you talking about? If anything, you deserve a hell of a lot more than this. You're brilliant and beautiful and it took quite a kick in the ass from fate for me to realize it. I don't deserve you, Kim."

Hearing him say those things with such intensity only served as a swift punch to the gut, making me cry and splutter all over again.

"Oh, Kim," he sighed, sitting down cross-legged beside me and pulling me into his lap. I buried my nose into his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his middle, fisting his t-shirt into my hands as I cried. He rubbed my back soothingly, whispering in my ear that everything was going to be fine, that he wasn't going anywhere, no matter what.

That last statement calmed me down a little, and with a raspy voice I asked, "Do you promise, Jared? Can you promise me that you won't leave me, no matter what? Because I need you. I need you and I'm so afraid that-"

I stopped myself short, knowing that I'd already said too much.

"Kimbo, is something going on? Is there something that you aren't telling me?"

When I didn't respond, he pulled back slowly from me, holding be away from him just enough to look me in the eye.

"There is something, isn't there? There's something you're keeping from me." The last part came out as a statement, and he nodded his head afterwards, obviously sure of himself.

"Jared, please don't make me talk about it. I can't. It isn't…it just isn't something that I can talk about."

"How can you keep something from me, Kim?" he asked pitifully. "You know everything there is to know about me. Don't I deserve the same courtesy?" His face fell even more, and as an angry look crossed his features, he stood up abruptly and I flopped onto my butt, peering up at his seething form. "Hell, I thought I WAS getting the same courtesy. Now I look like a jackass because there I was, trusting you with information that has the potential to break me, to break my pack, and you're keeping something from me! And it's obviously something pretty important or you wouldn't be so fucking upset. Why would you keep something big from me, Kim?"

I cowered away from him for s split second before getting pissed off myself, standing up and backing away from him with my hand on my hip and my eyebrow raised. "Do you remember that conversation we had on the beach right after you imprinted on me? The one where you told me that you couldn't explain everything to me and I was okay with that because I knew you'd tell me if you could, but you just couldn't? I accepted that you couldn't tell me. I trusted your decision. Can't you extend the same courtesy to me?"

"This is so completely different, Kim! How long have we been together, huh? How long have you known my secret and just conveniently forgot to mention your own? How long have you been keeping this from me, anyway? How long have you been lying to me?"

I guess the look on my face gave away the fact that it'd been the whole time, and a tremor ran through his body.

"Jared, you are so totally blowing this out of proportion. I—"

"Blowing this out of proportion? My girlfriend, no, my SOUL MATE breaks down because I, thinking that our relationship is a completely open and honest one, a strong, unbreakable one, bought a house that she doesn't think she deserves because she's been keeping secrets and lying to me! Oh, yeah, I'm totally blowing this shit out of the fucking water."

"Jared, will you stop yelling at me for five seconds? I'm sorry, okay? The guilt eats away at me every day, every SINGLE day, but I just can't tell you. I know that you're mad, and I know that you're upset and hurt, but-"

"But you can't tell me. " He barked out a cynical laugh and started backing away from me, taking big steps backward towards the trees. I could see him trying to gain control of his wolf, but his body was shimmering. "I should've known it wouldn't be this easy. I thought—hell, I don't know what I thought. I mean, I saw Sam and Emily struggle because of that little love triangle. His mind was a mess. It was horrible. Quil imprints on a toddler and Jake imprints on a vampire mutant infant, no explanations needed there. Paul gets the older, sophisticated bitch who fuels his temper, not to mention she's the sister of his Alpha's rival, and we won't even talk about how fucked up the double imprint is between Embry and Tala, the poster children for broken homes. I thought I had it so lucky, you know? I imprinted on a girl who loved me before I became this, and she accepted me even though I was an ass to her before. I got this smart, beautiful girl who accepted me right from the get go, right off the bat, and everything's great and I buy a house and ask my dad for my grandma's engagement ring, and it turns out that she's lying to me. Not about something little, but about something big, something so big that it's eating away at her."

He asked his dad for his grandmother's engagement ring. Oh my God. I suddenly wished that I was a normal girl, with normal talents and a normal life, and that Jared was normal and would have normally fallen in love with me. It sure would've saved us a whole lot of trouble, but damn it, our lives weren't normal, and I snapped back to reality with the sharp realization that if I didn't do something, and fast, Jared was going to furplode on me and bolt. That thought cut thought my soul like a machete, and I steeled my resolve.

"Jared, please. Please, Jare, don't walk away from me. I know it seems bad, but it really isn't as bad as all that. I will tell you. I will tell you everything one day, and when I do, maybe you'll be really pissed, and there will probably be repercussions, but we'll get through it. Please don't leave over this. Please, please don't. If you do, I don't know what I'll do, you know? You're everything. God, Jared, you're EVERYTHING. Please. Please don't do this." I tasted salt on my lips as I reached my tongue out to wet them. I was crying. It was at that moment that I realized I was walking toward him slowly with my hands raised, trying to calm his human side down while at the same time trying not to scare his wolf off. I'd never seen this side of him so close before, and while it didn't scare me, I was worried that he would lose himself for a second too long and take off, leaving me behind.

He saw my tears and let out a low, animal-like whine, torn between being upset with me and his overwhelming desire to make sure I was always, ALWAYS happy.

If I was being honest, a small part of me was relieved that he knew I was keeping something from him and was angry about it. But that was only a small part, and the rest was screaming in terror, telling me what a colossal idiot I was for not keeping up my freaking façade and telling him just how happy he'd made me by buying a house and planning a future for us. Most girls couldn't even get they're special man friends to think about that stuff, and here Jared was taking the initiative.

"Kim, I've gotta think. Just…just give me some time. I'll…I'll come to you when I've calmed down. I can't be around you when I'm like this. I can't hurt you. I won't."

"How much time, Jared? Like a few hours? Or maybe a day or two?"

"I don't know, Kim. I don't know." He shook his head and, without a single glance back towards me, took off into the forest, leaving me in the middle of our would-be backyard, freaking out and hyperventilating.

* * *

Seth and Brady emerged from the woods where Jared had disappeared not twenty minutes before, picking me up from where I lay in a fetal position in the wet grass and taking me back to the bonfire. Nobody said anything as we passed, taking one look at me and shrinking back. I'm sure I looked like a complete wreck. Yeah, I knew that eventually I'd see him, at least I hoped that'd be the case, but there's just something about being abandoned by your imprint, your soul mate, your very best friend that hurts like a bitch.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel rip herself out of Paul's grip and race towards me, asking what had happened while pushing my hair away from my face.

I felt Seth shrug and heard Rachel sigh. "Put her in my car, Seth. I'm gonna take her to Emily's. There's a key under her mat and it's closer."

"But Rach-" I heard Paul begin to protest, but he must've received yet another withering look from his imprint because he mumbled a quick apology and shut up.

I spent New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and two days after that holed up in Emily's little cottage with Rachel, eating ice cream and blubbering like a baby whenever I looked at the silver ring on my left hand. God, I was a sap. A ridiculous, lovesick sap.

It wasn't until day four that Rachel informed me in her own special, not-so-subtle way that I was "pulling a Bella-freaking-Swan" and that Jared and I needed to "get over our kindergarten shit and make up already because Rachel hadn't had her fill of Paul in four whole days and she was sexually frustrated like nobody's business."

All she had to do was compare me to Bella Swan and I was up off the couch wiping the ice cream off of my chin faster than someone could say "psycho vampire girl."

I went back to work. I went back to school. I spent time with my parents, who knew something was up but were nice enough not to say anything, and I sure wasn't offering up any information. I babysat Wes so that Danny and Tess could have a night out without a screaming baby in tow. I called Lindsay and listened to her "awesome" stories of dorm life and college in general. I met with Emily, her sister, Rachel and Leah to go over some last minute details for Emily and Sam's fast approaching nuptials. I went to a farewell bonfire held for Jacob and the Cullens, who'd decided rather abruptly and unexpectedly to take Renesmee to Maine until she was fully grown to avoid any speculation when she came back as an adult only seven years later.

Two weeks had passed and no one had heard anything from Jared, which meant that he had gone somewhere in wolf form but had promptly phased out and began wandering around as a human. I found myself wondering if my almost-fiancé had a flair for the dramatic, but I could see where he was coming from. I mean, I had been lying to him for the entirety of our relationship. I'd be uber pissed at me, too.

I missed him. God, I missed him. I was used to him always being there, right there near me, and even when he wasn't, it was like I could feel him thinking about me, feel him loving me. Now, though, there was nothing. Being so utterly alone was mind numbing, to say the very least, and somehow, someway, I needed to feel closer to him. I needed that connection, and I knew exactly where to go.

The presence of the imprint was almost palpable as I pulled my Jeep into the driveway of Jared's, no, OUR house. It was ours. He'd come back. We'd be okay. The Alaska thing would go down. I'd be able to tell him everything. He'd forgive me. We'd make passionate love and get married and have four children and some pets and grow old together. Fairy tale ending. Think happy thoughts, Kim. Think happy thoughts.

After searching fruitlessly for a spare key and peering through the dusty windows into the barren house, I resigned myself to laying face down and spread eagle on the front porch, imagining Jared seeing the house on patrol, thinking of me, and going to see a realtor. I giggled a little as I thought of Jared, still in wolf form, trotting into the realtor's office in Forks and barking at the people there like they could understand him.

My God, I was going insane.

Then I imagined him walking through the front door, thinking about what would go where and which room would be what, picturing the two of in there happy and blissful and…

Ah, sappy Kim. We meet again.

Unfortunately, getting caught up in my imaginings meant that I was completely oblivious to the world around me, that is, until a tight 'ahem' pulled me back into reality. I flipped over onto my back and sat up, making myself a little dizzy in the process. I shook my head, regaining my bearings before looking up, only to lose them again.

I guess staring a red-eyed vamp straight in the face will do that to a person.

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, evil cliffy! So it boils down to this: I have two versions of the next chapter ALREADY WRITTEN, and right now, I'm up in the air. I'm counting on your reviews to inspire me to go a certain way. Oh, and the faster you review, the faster I post. Thanks for reading, and as always, I really appreciate your feedback. You guys are awesome. **


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: First of all, thank you SO MUCH to all my readers. I had more reviews last chapter than any other chapter beforehand. I'm almost at 150, and I'm so excited that I can hardly stand myself! Anyhoo...This chapter is totally not what the majority of you were expecting, but I felt like I needed to develop Kim a little more before she's ready for bigger and better things. That being said, this chapter is my freaking favorite so far. And I know I say that every time, but this time I mean it (at least until the next chapter, lol). Maybe I'm morbid and gruesome, but I've been waiting to write Kim like this for awhile. The second part of this chapter totally came from left field, though. The chapter was originally just the first part, but then I just got the idea for the second part in my head and I ran with it. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! And as always, please review and let me know what you thought. I love hearing from you guys so much! Your comments make my day! So, it is out of immense gratitude that I give you Chapter 18!**

**NOTE: Yes, my pen name has changed from darkgoddess09 to what it is currently, jenniemae2013. It was solely for the sake of remaining consistent with other realms of the fandom that I participate in, and won't be changing again. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused you guys!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer and I don't own Twilight, nor do I own Pop-Tarts, a Jeep, South Park, or any other recognizable brand you may happen upon. **

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My own hazel eyes were lackluster in comparison to the shining red ones that bore murderously into my own.

How had this leech gotten past the border? How had he even gotten into the vicinity, at all? The Volturi hadn't been gone long, so even though the Cullens had left the area, the pack was still on high alert.

"You smell divine, little human. A bit of an unusual waft, I'll admit, but divine nonetheless."

I suppose what I should be asking myself was how on earth I hadn't felt him coming. Oh, yeah. I was off in pathetic, depressed Kim-who-is-without-Jared-world. Imagine that. Well, time to put on my big girl pants and get down to some business. I took a moment to consider him before I responded to his statement that, from the delighted sneer on his face, was obviously meant to frighten me.

He was tall, lanky, and super, super pasty-much paler than any other vampire I'd ever seen, although that wasn't saying much. I almost giggled at the thought of him being an albino before he was turned. Nonetheless, he was still very much attractive, even to me, a person born with the innate ability and overwhelming desire to kill him. His features were sharp, particularly his nose, which stood out prominently above a square jaw and cleft chin, and a shock of red hair topped off his granite frame. I reached out carefully with my extra sense, trying to get a feel on his aura, and breathed an internal sigh of relief as I realized that his was too weak to ever belong to the Volturi. Quickly ascertaining that the Alaska event was not yet upon me, I decided that this bloodsucker presented an opportunity that I could not afford to waste. I'd never had any up close and personal experience with eradicating leeches, and I figured that while I had the chance, I should see what it was like.

"Should I take that as a compliment, or am I supposed to be running scared from you at this point?"

To say he looked shocked at my aloofness was an understatement. Before he could respond, I threw a shield up around the two of us and the house, and felt the familiar rush of adrenaline surge through my veins as I dragged him up to the porch, directly in front of my perch on the steps where I was still seated.

"What are you?" he shrieked. "You don't smell like one of those mongrels-"

"That's because I'm not," I snapped. This whole "mean and powerful Kim" thing was actually kind of fun. I'd never done anything like this before, seeing as the inanimate objects I'd previously manipulated had no response to human emotions, but I quickly decided that I liked it.

Since I had no way to shield us from view, my only option was the little house behind me. Jared wasn't around to come barging in on me, and after a brief scan of the surrounding forest, I knew that no pack member was nearby. Turning my back on the leech where I held him immobile at the bottom of the porch steps, I concentrated on the door knob, then blushed a little when I realized that I could've opened the door myself earlier instead of pining away miserably out here.

As soon as the door was open, I stepped in, taking a quick inventory of the contents of the house. I saw no furniture other than a dilapidated sofa, so I flung the vampire from where he stood outside to the little couch, slamming the front door shut and flinging all of the blinds closed when I had him where I wanted him. Oh, man, was this going to be fun!

Wait! No smiling, Kim! Only serious faces allowed, with the exception of freakish or insane ones. (That shouldn't be hard to accomplish, seeing as how I was sort of already floating on the edge of the deep end.)

"Who are you?" he asked, his face still the image of calm and serene even as his voice sounded a tad on the nervous side.

I bit back the urge to say 'your worst nightmare,' instead opting for, "I think the better question is, who are you?"

It took about everything I had in me not to giggle. Who was I kidding? I sure as hell wasn't cut out for this. Oh, well. Too late now, I suppose.

"Like I'd tell you," he said, spitting in my direction. What an uncouth heathen!

"I'll give you one more chance to tell me, and then bad, bad things are going to happen."

'Bad, bad things are going to happen?' Ooh, scary! What the fuck, Kim?

"Fuck you."

For the first time in the presence of an actual sentient being that had no prior knowledge of my gift, I used my powers.

It was surprisingly easy to rip off his hand, both in practice and psychologically; for me, at least. Judging by the roar that came from his throat, I guessed that he didn't exactly share my sentiments.

"Who are you?"

He didn't answer, just sat there smoldering, unable to do anything else as he was incapacitated under the strength of my power.

"Fine then," I said, nonchalantly ripping off his other hand (and a leg, just for good measure), and tossing them into the corner, adding the first pieces of what I assumed might be a steadily growing pile of vampire limbs before our time together was over if he kept his current attitude.

He roared again, and screamed, "You bitch!"

I shook my finger at him and clicked the end of my tongue. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk that way in front of a lady? For shame."

I honestly didn't know where this shit was coming from; had no idea where I was getting the gumption to rip the appendages off of another person, albeit an already dead person, but an aware person, nonetheless. Perhaps it was an innate thing, or maybe it was because I knew why his eyes were red, and thinking about it pissed me off. Oh, well. I was interrogating him at the moment, not myself.

"Let's see. You have another leg, but there's a foot attached to that, and toes attached to your foot. Your arms can be torn off into a few different pieces. I'm not sure that you have entrails, but I guess we could find out, and if not, there's always your favorite little buddy just below your belt-"

"Wait!" Ah, of course. The good ol' 'I'm gonna pull a Lorena Bobbitt and painfully castrate you' was sure to get him talking, because even if he was an immortal bad ass, he was still a male immortal bad ass. "I'll tell you anything, just-don't take that. Please. What do you want to know? I'll tell you. I will."

Well, that was easy.

"What's your name?"

"Svenn," he responded immediately.

"Well, Svenn, what are you doing here?"

This time he hesitated. All it took was one step toward him on my part, though, and the leech began to purge himself. "I'm a nomad, originally from Finland. I've been on the west coast of your country for awhile."

"That doesn't answer my question." I took another step. He cringed.

"I heard a rumor that the Volturi's authority was being challenged somewhere in the area, and wanted to see for myself what was going on. I was close enough to come, but by the time I got here, they'd already gone."

Well, that confirmed my belief that he wasn't Volturi. "Why are you still here, Svenn?" I really didn't care why he was here, but I figured my endurance could use a little inspection. Plus, I was pretty sure that if he'd made it this far onto the rez without the wolves catching his scent, he had a gift that I couldn't allow to exist.

"It's beautiful here." Bullshit. I took three toes from his right foot.

"Ah! Why did you do that? I answered your question! You're insane!"

"Svenn, you and I both know that you aren't here because of how beautiful the land is. I'm not stupid."

Again, I ask, where was this coming from? The closest I'd ever gotten to being so violent was when Danny ran over my new Barbie bicycle with the lawn mower when I was five, and even then all I'd been able to do was throw one of the handlebar tassels at his head.

Oh, well!

"I'll ask you again, Svenn. Why are you here?"

He didn't answer. Bye-bye to the last two of his toes…and his right ear.

This time, he didn't cry out. I narrowed my eyes, and jerked him forward by the waist of his jeans, pulling him away from the couch a bit before slamming him back into it.

"Do I have to threaten little Svenn again?"

"You wouldn't," he snarled.

"Oh really?" I tugged his jeans again.

"Fine, fine!" I smirked at his obvious frustration.

"The mongrels-" I took his other ear for the insult. "FINE!" he screamed. "The WOLVES cannot smell me, that is my talent, and I suspected that the Volturi would not come back here because of what has happened. Thus, I can hunt and no one will bother me. At least, I assumed that would be the case. I've never encountered the likes of you before, so I wasn't exactly able to factor that into my decision."

"So you deliberately came onto lands you knew were protected to hunt because you thought you'd be able to monopolize the place since you're the exception to those protecting it?" I said, taking his leg off from beneath the knee for good measure. I waited until his scream died off to continue.

"Well, leech, there are no exceptions to this protector's power. I may not be able to smell you, but I can sense your presence, and I can sense the human blood that runs through your body. I hope you understand that I will not let you live because of that?"

He scoffed. "I figured as much."

We stood staring at each other for awhile, and I sat down cross-legged in front of his partially dismembered body.

"Well, are you going to finish it?"

"I have one more question. You don't have to answer, but…I'm curious."

He sighed in annoyance.

"Do you not feel like some kind of cannibal, eating humans, things that look sort of like you? Is it weird for you, or do you just not even realize what you're doing?"

"Well, you were able to rip me apart without much thought. I suppose you could answer your own question about as well as I could."

"Touché," I replied, smiling slightly.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but paused, and remained quiet for some time, so long, in fact, that when he spoke, he startled me."Before I became this some two hundred years ago, I was a fisherman. I don't remember much, but know that I had a wife that I loved, two beautiful sons, and a quaint little house in a small village in southern Finland. I like to believe that I was a good person when I was human. Now, though, I am not human. I am the furthest thing from human that there is, I suppose. You should know, odd little human, that the blood lust is innate, and is so omnipresent that I do not think I could ever try to control it. What the Cullen coven does is well known in our world, and commendable, but it is not innate, and it cannot last."

"No offense, but I think you're just weak and alone."

He remained silent after that, and stared at a crack in the ceiling for the remainder of the time we spent together in that little house.

"How long are you going to keep me alive?" he finally asked, never removing his eyes from the tiny crack, his lips barely moving.

"How many people have you killed?"

"The number is incalculable, odd little human."

"Then I suppose the length of time I keep you here will be, as well."

He looked down at that, and as soon as he uttered "touché," I severed his head and neck from his shoulders, decapitating him with a smirk still plastered on his face and his crimson eyes still wide.

I don't know how long I sat there staring at his remains, holding them in place with my powers as they tried to reassemble themselves.

The weight of what I had done suddenly hit me.

I had killed something. Granted, I had killed bugs and spiders and bees and such in the past, and one time I accidentally ran over a squirrel that had an apparent death wish, but this-this was different.

This had been a person once, with a family, with a job, with hopes and dreams and aspirations, and I had killed him.

But then I remembered that he was going to eat me, and would've succeeded if I'd have just been your everyday, ordinary, run of the mill girl. Then, after he'd drank his fill of me, he'd surely have run rampant on the rez, feeding off of my tribe until the pack could finally pin him down sans the use of their noses.

I didn't feel so bad anymore.

Standing up, I brushed off the backside of my pants with my hands, and in one swift, final rush of adrenaline, I imploded the leech's remains in on themselves and threw the pile of dust that remained into the fireplace. Just for good measure, I did the same to the couch, which was sure to have vampire stink thoroughly soaked into it. I figured it'd seen its better days, anyway.

I ran back out to my Jeep after checking once more for any wolves in the area, and grabbed one of the flares Jared insisted I keep with me in case of an emergency. Marching back into the house, all the while making a mental list of what I'd have to do before going home, the first and foremost thing being 'rid my future house of bloodsucker stench before Jared or one of his cronies can miraculously materialize out of thin air and find out what's going on," I ripped off the lid and cap to the flare, striking it and throwing it into the fireplace.

With a loud pop and a hissing noise, flames erupted from the hearth, and I stood unmoving as I watched what was left of the leech disappear.

Making sure the shield was still firmly planted over the house to keep anyone from smelling the stench of burnt vampire, I placed another shield over myself for the same reason and once again headed out to my car.

Then, it was off to the general store to buy a few stink bombs and a shit load of air freshener…

* * *

After I bombarded the house with stink bombs, cans upon cans of lemon-scented air freshener, and bleach for good measure, I headed home to burn my clothes and take a very long, very hot, ridiculously soapy shower, which, after my eventful day of pining and performing mercenary duties for the tribe, I felt was well-deserved.

Just as I turned the knob to kill the stream of scalding water coming from my shower head, I heard a knock at the front door, but didn't think much of it. Mom and Dad were always having somebody over. It wasn't until my dad shouted up the stairs that someone was here to see me that I perked up. I knew it wasn't Jared; the imprint pull was still painfully absent. I knew it was a wolf, though, because even when I wasn't actively searching for them, their presence always hit me full force since my body was hard-wired to be attuned to them. I guess it came with the whole Guardian territory, or something.

"Send them up, Dad!" I hollered back, hastily drying off and putting on my underwear, ratty sweat pants, and a Seattle Seahawk's jersey that had been Danny's in middle school.

With my hair still in a towel, I exited the bathroom, expecting to be hit by a wall of cool air from the hallway, but instead running smack into a wall of a whole other kind: a muscled wolf torso.

Stumbling back and looking up, my eyes met with Blade's, the newbie pack member with the unhealthy crush on me-unhealthy because Jared had threatened to kill him more times than I could count for blatantly flirting with me.

"Kim! Hey!" He said, grabbing me and pulling me into a hug. "How are you? I haven't seen you in awhile and I figured I'd drop by and see how you were. I brought my algebra homework with me. I made a B minus on my last test, thanks to you and your genius tutoring methods!"

God, I was so not in the mood for this.

"Hey, Logan." I absolutely refused to call him Blade. It was the most ridiculous nickname imaginable for this particular fifteen year old Native American kid. Pulling myself out of his grasp and pushing past him so I could leave the still-steamy confines of my bathroom, I slipped into the hall and downstairs to the living room. I most CERTAINLY wasn't letting that kid anywhere near my room and subsequent panty drawer.

He of course followed me, as was to be expected, prattling on about everything and nothing all the while. "Well, anyway, I thought I'd come over and hang out, see if you'd check over my factoring polynomials worksheet for me, watch a movie, y'know, that kind of stuff. I've missed seeing you. I'm on the late afternoon patrols so I can keep going to school, so when you're at Emily's I don't get to see you. It's kind of depressing, actually." He laughed a bit, and I grimaced.

Before I could answer, my dad popped his head into the living room, and I could hear my mom in the kitchen piddling around for some reason or another. "Kim, your mom and I are headed out to dinner with your uncle. Call if you need anything!"

How convenient. Of course they were leaving me here. Alone. With Logan. And I thought my day couldn't get any better! Not.

My wonderful parents just smiled and waved as they left through the front door.

"Dude, your parents are cool. Mine would never leave me alone in my house with a girl. Not that I've never been alone in my house with a girl, by the way. I'm pretty experienced in that area." He waggled his eyebrows at me. Sick.

"Logan, you've only known me for, like, two months, tops, not to mention that I'm four years older than you and the imprint of your beta. Could you PLEASE stop hitting on me?" I couldn't help but smirk up at him as I asked my question, pointedly scooting further away from him on the couch.

"Age is just number, baby."

"You totally stole that line from Jacob Black!" I said, laughing and poking him in the side.

He laughed and grabbed my finger, jerking me uncomfortably close to him. What a cocky little shit.

"Sure, sure," he said with a smirk. "And yeah, I know I stole that, too."

He quieted for a moment, the look in his eyes telling me that he was scanning my face for something that he would never see there.

Sighing, I pulled back away from him. "What are you doing, Logan?"

This time, he sighed, looking at the coffee table that sat directly in front of us.

"I dunno. I guess…it's just that…Jared's gone." Ouch. "We can't hear him. We don't know where he is. He's mad. The last thought anyone could pick up from him was your face when he left you in the yard of some house. It killed him to see you look like that, but he left anyway. I'm mad at him for leaving you here, because I saw what you looked like, Kim. I hate that he made you look like that."

"Not that it's any of you business to begin with, but do you even know why he's mad?"

"You kept something from him, but that's no excuse-"

"No, Logan. It is. I deserve it, and I deserve what I have coming to me when he finds out what I've been hiding all this time. But I still love him, Logan. It's Jared and only Jared for me, so you need to back off."

"He didn't even know you existed before he imprinted on you, even though you were right under his nose the whole time. How can that be okay with you, Kim?" His eyes darted from the coffee table to stare at me again. "You deserve better than that. You deserve someone that loves you because of who you are, not because of-"

"Look, Logan, you should really stop talking about things you know nothing about," I said, standing abruptly from the couch and interrupting his unusually serious monologue. "I know you don't understand the pull of the imprint because you've never experienced it, but one day you will, and one day you'll know why I didn't fight it and why I can't see myself with anyone else." He seemed to cower from me as I looked down sternly at him. "It's more than the imprint pull for me, though. I liked him for a long time, a very long time, before he imprinted. I liked him because he was smart, and funny, and nice to other people, and he was always smiling, no matter what. Maybe he didn't notice me of his own accord back then, but I sure as hell didn't try to change that, even though I could have. But now we're together, or we were, I guess. Just because he's mad at me doesn't mean we don't still belong together, and one day I'm going to tell everyone what the hell is going on with me and just pray to God that he can forgive me. If he does, he does, and if he doesn't, he doesn't, but he's still it for me, no matter what he does."

Logan shook his head and opened his mouth determinedly, looking like he was going to protest yet again, but I narrowed my eyes at him and he snapped his mouth shut and glared at the coffee table again.

I sat back down on the couch with a huff. When I saw the dejected look on his face, I was yet again reminded of Jacob Black, and with that thought, I softened. "Didn't you say you had some algebra homework, kid?"

"I think I'm just gonna go…"

"Look, Logan, as far as I'm concerned, you're little teenage crush will pass eventually, and we're gonna be good friends. So, for the sake of this friendship, I suggest you break out your damn algebra book while I retrieve the Pop-Tarts."

Four hours, very little algebra homework, three boxes of Pop-Tarts, one South Park marathon, and an extremely childish secret handshake later, Logan left my house a reformed pup. Reformed in that he was no longer actively pursuing me, but not reformed enough that he'd stopped flirting excessively with me and making suggestive comments of the sexual kind.

What a day.

But, as is the norm in the life of Kim, it was not over yet.

As I curled up in my bed that night, thoroughly exhausted from my series of escapades with supernatural creatures and two-week imprint-induced-happiness dry spell, something deep inside of my soul jerked awake.

And that could only mean one thing…

Jared was back.

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it! Please review and let me know what you guys thought. As always, thanks SO much for reading!**

** ~Jen**


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hello again! No your eyes aren't deceiving you. It's an actual update! Longest chapter I've ever written. So sorry for the absurdly long delay. Without further adieu, I give you chapter 19! Please review and let me know what you thought! Reviews are my crack. **

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, however unfortunate that may be. I do not own Twilight. **

* * *

Jared was back. I was certain of it, because I hadn't felt this tug in the two weeks since he'd left me in the backyard of what would hopefully still be our house someday.

Jared was back, but he wasn't coming to see me. The pull was there, but it wasn't tightening. It remained at an unsettling standstill, an unwavering pressure beneath my sternum.

Maybe him staying away was for the best. Now that he knew I was keeping secrets from him, there was no telling what kind of dynamic our relationship would take on. The possibilities were daunting. Would it be awkward? Would there always be that huge pink elephant in the room that everyone blatantly ignored? Would we continuously fight about it like we had that night two weeks ago? Would he pretend like nothing was wrong? Would he be understanding and forgiving like I had been with his secret?

It took me ten minutes of pacing my room, the possibilities of the future swirling around in my head and jerking around my heart, to realize that the innate, underlying sense of the imprint pull was being pushed and pulled, almost like someone was experimenting with it. Was it Jared? Was he trying to clamp down on the bond? Was he trying to communicate with me? Was he alright?

I slammed my eyes shut as I thought of the possibility that he could be hurt, unable to shift, and I was his only hope. Was that why I'd been able to feel something all of a sudden? Was he in trouble with no other way to get in touch with us?

I came to an immediate standstill, hurriedly sending adrenaline pulsing through my veins, searching La Push, then Forks, then the Hoh Rainforest, then further still when I was still unable to sense him.

Searching, searching, searching.

And then, feeling like my prayers had been answered, I found him. Just outside of Port Angeles. Moving much too slowly to be in wolf form.

But something was off. And then, as realization kicked in along with a feeling of dread, yet an almost demented sort of relief, I knew that what I'd been waiting for, what I'd been told about for almost half my life, what I'd been anxiously hoping for yet hating at the same time, was about to come to fruition, because…

Jared was not alone.

Jared was not alone, but he was not with humans, nor was he with any of his shape shifting brothers.

No. Jared was not alone because he was in the company of vampires, and very powerful vampires, at that.

It was time.

It's funny. You wait for something for so long, impatient for it happen so that you can move on with your life, dreading it yet welcoming it all at the same time. Then it comes. What you're waiting for comes and you realize that even though you've known it's coming, you aren't even close to being ready for it.

I sure as hell was not ready for this.

But it was time.

I stood still for what could have been an eternity, frozen in shocked disbelief. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to go to bed and wake up with Jared next to me, these past weeks having been a nightmare. I wanted to be normal. I wanted to be a normal human girl with a normal human life and a normal human boyfriend. Jealousy of Lindsay and Danielle and my other classmates washed over me.

All of a sudden I couldn't breathe.

They had Jared. They had my Jared. Jared Jared Jared, oh God, Jared…

I allowed myself two minutes to break down. Two minutes to let out my anxiety, my fear, the loss that I still felt when I thought of the consequences of the very near future, and most of all, to let out my overwhelming, overpowering, all-consuming concern for the other half of my soul.

See, my grandmother had never mentioned this particular occurrence. Whether she neglected to tell me because she knew I'd do anything in my power to keep Jared out of such a situation, or if she just never saw it in the first place, was inconsequential.

It was a heavy blow to take, but a blow I'd have to take and move beyond.

It was time.

I picked myself off the floor and searched out the four other imprints still in La Push along with checking the location of the other wolves, making sure to keep some peripheral focus on Jared. Rachel was spending the night at Emily's house, the two women watching Claire since Sam and Paul were training the seven newest wolves out in the middle of the Hoh and Embry, Quil, and Collin were out patrolling the boundaries of the rez. All three imprints, along with Brady, Leah, and Seth, were all at home in various states of consciousness. Jake and Ness were with the Cullens in Maine. I was at home alone, my parents having gone out with no intentions to return until the end of the weekend. It was a typical Friday night, aside from the fact that Jared was currently in the backseat of a leech-mobile hurtling towards La Push at around one hundred and ten miles per hour.

The more I analyzed everyone's positions, the more I realized that this was the opportune time for the Volturi to come for us. This could only mean one thing: they'd been watching us since they left, learning our routines. It didn't seem like long enough of a time to do proper reconnaissance, but who could ever tell with these leeches?

I then wondered how they would cross the boundary of La Push without being smelled or at least sensed by the pack, most of whom were out in the forest at this very moment. This thought led to another. How in the world had Alice Cullen not envisioned something being unusual with the Volturi? She had been constantly watching them, constantly checking up on what they were doing. How had they gotten past her? This was another piece of information I'd never been told.

Maybe…

Maybe they had some kind of ace in the hole, a vampire with powers similar to mine, but immortalized and more complex.

No time to make assumptions, Kimbo. I would just have to cross that bridge when I came to it.

For now, all I could do was sit in my room, keep an eye on things, not interfere, and wait.

I trained my preternatural ability back on Jared and the bloodsuckers, following them as they drove the 101 into Forks, and then as they crossed over the border and into the reservation. I knew they'd be coming for me last. That's what I'd do, at least. I lived closest to the boundary. It would make more sense for them to get the three imprints from the Uley house in the heart of the reservation first. That way, as soon as they came for and kidnapped me, they'd be able to immediately leave the reservation and take us to whatever transportation they had waiting to relocate us.

Sure enough, they bypassed the turn off to the network of roads leading to my house, continuing on deeper into La Push. Emily and Claire were sleeping when Aro and his child leech prodigies went in to retrieve them, but Rachel was still up pacing in the kitchen, no doubt trying to stay awake for Paul. This would not be good for her, and I knew that she would try to put up a fruitless fight. I felt the young girl rocket silently, effortlessly into the house, whipping Rachel around and restraining her before she could make a sound.

I felt tears leak out of my eyes as I put my clenched fist to my mouth, more or less "watching" the girl inflict pain of the worst kind on one of my best friends. Aro breezed into the house to confirm their identity— from the thought's he'd taken from Jared, no doubt—and the torture stopped, only to have the boy come into the house and use his gift to put the three humans in what I assumed was essentially a coma.

It was on the porch of our future home that they left Jared, completely knocked out and incapacitated, yet another mystery. I could detect no unusual presence at the moment, no extra corpse either devoid of power or with a power that I could not detect, the latter being something I'd never encountered before.

I concentrated on the well-being of the girls, who'd all been unceremoniously dumped into whatever fancy vehicle the Volturi had put to use.

And then they were coming for me.

I laid down on my bed, blocking any thoughts that would give me away to Aro and barely managing to keep myself from instinctually putting a shield around myself for protection, knowing that I'd be found out if none of their powers had any effect on me. I would not push my luck.

I felt the invisible fog roll through the house and checked the barrier I'd put up in my mind one last time. Then, try as I might to avoid the darkness without my power, I finally succumbed to it.

I felt, saw, heard no more.

* * *

I came to very slowly. As I peered up from my position on the cold stone floor, I took in the sight of Rachel slumped over directly in front of me. To my immediate left, Emily seemed half alert, clinging desperately to a squalling Claire. I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, only to cough painfully as my lungs were assaulted by the dank room's thick, musty air. Aside from a lone lamp residing in one of the room's corners, there was no light, and the light the lamp was emitting was nothing if not dim. What appeared to be one-way mirrors were mounted in each of the four walls, leading me to believe that we were basically in a box. I felt like a caged mouse, and wondered briefly about the intentions the Volturi had towards us. I knew from conversations with my grandmother that I would be a target. I had no idea if they'd do anything to the others.

My mind wandered to the time, and the date, and the fact that I had no idea exactly how long we'd been here.

"Kim?" Emily was looking at me, obviously confused, and almost in a trance-like state.

"Yeah, Em. It's me. It's Kim. Are you okay?"

"I…I think so." I listened as she made shushing noises at Claire, but to no avail. My eyes drifted back to Rachel as I sat up, leaning against the hard wall for support. She looked awful. I assumed that I was the last to wake up, and that Rachel had at least been up long enough to have some kind of encounter with the Volturi. I was well aware that out of the four of us, Rachel would be the one to put up the hardest fight. Emily would've been too concerned about Claire, and I had already known that this would happen, and that there was nothing that could be done to avoid it. But Rachel was, well, Rachel. Ray had always been temperamental. She was Paul's imprint, after all, and of course a Black. It's not like she could be anything but bullheaded. Her left eye was swollen, and she had bruises on her wrists from the manacles restraining her arms. She looked unconscious, but the steady rise and fall of her chest gave me some relief in the knowledge that at least she was alive.

I closed my eyes, a sudden wave of exhaustion slamming into me. My throat stung with every breath that I took, but I tried to tell myself that it could be worse, and I opened my eyes narrowly to catch another glimpse of Ray. I heard no more whimpering from Claire, and I figured that she must have fallen asleep. I turned my head toward Emily once again, hoping that she was aware enough to talk. Seeing her eyes darting back and forth around the room, I angled my body towards her and called out her name. She looked up at me, and the fear in her heart was evident on her face.

"I'm scared, Kim. I…what are we going to do? What do they want with us? Why are we here? Where are we?" She was becoming frantic, and I was surprised that the normally calm and collected Emily was becoming hysterical, but I knew that without the previous information I had acquired from my grandmother, I would be, too.

"I don't know, Em. I honestly don't know. But we're okay. And we're together. That has to count for something, right? No worries. We'll make it out of here just fine." This seemed to appease her a bit, and I felt extremely guilty that I could not be honest with her and ease her fears. Yet another person I had to feel like shit for lying to. She had no idea what I was or that I knew this was coming. There was only one person who did, and she was dead. Dead and gone. But I refused to think about any of that now. I focused what strength I had on making sure the other three were in good condition, or in as good a condition that was possible for the circumstances. "Is Claire okay?"

"Yeah. She seems fine at the moment. She's just scared like the rest of us. At least she's in better physical condition than we are. If I could just keep her quiet then we'll be in good shape."

I briefly contemplated searching the surrounding area, but decided I should try to build back up as much energy as I could before using my gift. I was going to need all the strength I could get later on. That was most definite.

"Did you notice the mirrors?" I said, as quietly as I possibly could. "I think they may be watching us." I knew they had to have been.

She sat up, crossing her legs and placing Claire's head on her thigh as she looked around the room, quickly taking in the surroundings. "Yeah. That's probably the only thing we can be sure of." I noticed her breathing had calmed down a bit, a sign that the initial shock she'd experienced was wearing off. "Who do you think they are?"

"I don't know." This was definitely a lie. I knew exactly who they were. And they were probably the only group of people who would want anything with the four of us anyway. "But what I do know is that the reason we're here is definitely obvious. There's no way it can't have something to do with the pack. At least Nessie's out of the country." Not for long, I hoped. Surely Alice would have the Cullens here very soon, unless the same thing that kept her from seeing our capture prevented her from seeing what was happening to us now.

The only group of supernatural beings I was counting on coming to our rescue was the pack. Our boys. For all I knew, they were here already. Time meant nothing to me at the moment, and searching to see if they were here wasn't quite an option yet.

"I suppose. I'm glad she isn't in this predicament, but it would definitely be helpful to have her…talents…here, I suppose." Oh, if she only knew. I fought the urge to divulge my secret right then and there, but I knew that the only thing I had on my side other than secrecy was my element of surprise, and I couldn't risk that, no matter how much I wanted to.

"What do you think we should do?" I asked. I had to keep her talking, as much for my own sanity as hers.

"I guess all we can do is wait. That, and be prepared for whatever methods they use to get what they want from us." She shuddered at the thought of the "methods" they had in store for us.

As soon as the words left her mouth, a door we had failed to notice opened up directly to Rachel's right. A hooded figure glided swiftly into the room, followed by leeches that appeared to be the size of young children. There was no mistaking who these vampires were. "Hello, ladies." One of the children gave Rachel's leg a swift kick, and she woke with a start, moaning in pain.

The man lowered the hood of his cloak. I was a bit taken aback as I peered into his eyes and saw no malice there. He seemed…curious…as he glanced around the room at all of us. "It is likely that you are wondering why you have been brought here. All will be revealed in time, but first please allow me to introduce myself." He was being far too cordial for someone who had captured four young girls, one of whom was only a toddler.

"My name is Aro. I wanted to be the first person to welcome you to Alaska."

Emily scurried back into the closest corner, placing Claire behind her, shielding the girl.

I stood on wobbly legs and moved myself in front of them, fists clenched as I fought back the urge to throw this thing in front of me up against one of the brick walls and obliterate him, along with his cohorts. I had to find some way to get the girls out of this room, or get myself separated from them. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the job I had to do if I was worried about keeping Emily, Rachel, and Claire out of harm's way. I was still human, despite my talent, and there was only so much I could do at once.

Time to put on your very best acting pants, Kimbo.

Yep. Talking to myself. Even in times of certain peril. Go figure.

"What do you want?" It wasn't hard to make my voice quiver. Being parched will do that to a person, I suppose.

He clapped his hands together once and smiled happily at me, then waved the other leeches out of the room.

"Ah, Kimberly! It is so nice to finally meet you in person. Your mate had the most wonderful thoughts of you, and it makes me so excited to finally be able to talk to you!"

Jared thinking wonderful thoughts of me? Talk about a stab in the gut.

Just entertaining the notion made me falter, and it did not escape Aro's notice.

"But he was sad about something. About a secret, I believe. Yes, he was terribly upset over it, but more upset about what he did afterwards. He waited so long to come back; afraid to face you because he didn't want to face the idea of hurting his mate in the way that the scarred one behind you was hurt by her mate."

My stomach dropped. He waited because he felt guilty? Oh, Jared.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, surely you didn't think that you'd ever be seeing him again, my dear, for him to tell you in person."

Emily let out a strangled sob behind me, and I heard her shift impossibly closer to the walls.

I steeled my stomach and braced myself for the conversation I was about to enter into, hoping my mouth and my brain could stay in sync for just once in my life.

"I assume that means you'll be keeping me. You don't need the others, then. One of us is enough, surely."

He clapped his hands together again, loudly. "Ah, you are a treat! I was right in being anxious to meet you. If I'd only wanted one of you, my dear, then why would I have gotten all of you?"

Shit. That's what I was afraid of. My mind started to race as I thought of ways to negotiate with him.

"You see, I'm very intrigued by this 'imprinting' phenomenon that your mate's species seems to have. I have a theory that no single bond of yours is the same. Also, I've come to the conclusion that it gives me much more leverage over your wolves. I've always been keen on having werewolves as an addition to my guard. They would surely be an invaluable asset."

He looked at me expectantly, and I realized I had found my bargaining chip.

"You're right. No single bond is the same. But what if I could guarantee that you got the mate with the strongest bond to her wolf? Would you consider letting the rest go if I could guarantee you that? And before you say that you have no way to know, I'm already aware that you can read my thoughts. Umm…Jared told me," I finished lamely.

His smile faltered a bit as he considered me. "And which mate might that be, my dear Kimberly?"

Feeling like I was going to vomit, and praying to whoever would listen, I answered. "Myself."

He threw his head back and laughed. "And how am I to be sure you aren't lying? You could be a conceited human, and thus since you think so much of yourself, your thoughts would convey this statement to be true, when in fact it is not."

"I have sound, logical reasoning for my proposal." Thank you, Speech and Debate team.

"Kim! What are you doing?" Emily was clutching the back of my pajama pants, tugging on them and trying to get my attention, but I didn't reply. I glanced over at Rachel, whose one good eye was practically popping out of her head at me.

Aro raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at me and gestured for me to continue.

"Emily, the one behind me, and her mate were the first set of imprints in the modern pack. As you already know, he hurt her, he disfigured her horribly. He lives with that guilt every day. It's a constant weight that hangs over them and their relationship." Sorry for rehashing the past Em. "Plus, her mate is the alpha of the pack. His main duty is therefore to his pack. These things are bound to weaken their bond. Rachel and Paul are newly imprinted, and they fight all of the time. Their relationship is mostly physical, and he's so much younger than her that their imprint hasn't fully matured yet." My God, was I ever pulling this out of my ass. "Claire is only a toddler. Her mate sees her as a younger sister, just as the rest of the pack does. She knows nothing of the bond, and because she hasn't acknowledged it her mate doesn't feel as strongly for her yet. He would do anything to protect her, but so would the rest of the pack. As for me, I've felt a pull towards Jared ever since I've known him, which was more or less my whole life. When he told me about the shifters and imprinting, I did not react negatively, like the others did when they were informed. Aside from Emily, I've been in a relationship with my mate the longest. Plus, my grandmother was what our tribe considers to be a medicine woman. She advised the council, and I will take her place when I come of age. I am linked to the tribe and pack in a much more complex way than the other imprints, and therefore linked to my mate in a much more complex way."

"And what about the other imprints? I am aware of at least two others."

"There are only two more, but if you cared anything about them, you'd have them here, would you not? Or were those two too much of a challenge for you as opposed to us weak humans?"

Surprisingly, he laughed again. "You have sound reasoning, little human."

The wheels in my mind kept turning, though, as I tried to further solidify my argument.

"Plus, if you keep all of us here, then you have accomplished nothing in regards to getting the wolves to come work for you. You will have taken away everything that means something to the most powerful shifters in the pack, and they will turn against you. I can promise you that."

"You think that I am afraid of those animals turning against me, do you?"

"No. I'm saying that if you keep all of us, you will no longer have a bargaining chip. Why not keep only one of us and do whatever you want to the one you keep? It would teach the pack a lesson. They would know you mean business, and they'd do anything to protect the remaining imprints. They will have seen what you are capable of doing to them and they will comply. They'll have to."

He studied me closely, and I held my breath, hoping with everything in me that he bought my bullshit.

He was suddenly standing in front of me, his hand held out. "Give me your hand, my dear."

I reluctantly put my hand out after checking for the mental block I'd placed around the memories that would condemn us all to death, making sure it was secure and would hold.

As he grabbed my hand, stroking it in an almost reverent manner, I saw my earliest memories swim around in my head.

Looking up at my mom as she read me and Danny a bedtime story. My dad teaching me to ride a bike. Hitting Danny in the forehead with the Tonka toy that had used to destroy my sand castle. Meeting Lindsay in kindergarten. Our first day of middle school. Sleepovers and late nights and the Babysitters' Club and chocolate éclairs. The death of my grandmother. School and math tournaments and papers and homework. My undying crush on the hunk Jared Talon.

And then they moved to images of this new life that I had found myself in. Jared's smile. Him turning into a wolf for the first time in front of me. Hearing the legends. Emily imparting her wisdom upon me. The Cullens. Driving my Jeep as fast as I could while Rachel stood in the passenger seat, her upper body through the top of the open roof as Paul held tight to her legs and Jared laughed in the back. Fighting with him. Laying in our house moping. Feeling the imprint pull vanish. How I felt when it came back—the last memory I had that was safe for Aro to see.

Finally, after what seemed like hours yet at the same time merely seconds, he released me and nodded his head. I slumped to the floor, feeling more emotions at once than I could reasonably handle.

"You are quite the intelligent human. But are you really willing to stay here, to sacrifice yourself for the well-being of these others, who themselves have made no attempt such as yours?"

All I could do was lift my head up once in acknowledgement and brace myself for what was to come.

* * *

**A/N: Please review and let me know what you thought! Next chapter is already written and in the process of being edited. Expect it over the weekend! Hope you enjoyed it! **


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: FINALLY. If real life wasn't getting in the way, I was wrestling with this chapter. The characters and I had different ideas about what we thought should happen, apparently. I fought tooth and nail, but they won, so I had to scrap the original document. This is what I ended up with. So sorry for the ridiculously long wait. College is legit crazy. Don't go. (Kidding...sort of...)**

**A special thanks to all those who emailed and reviewed. You all lit a fire under my butt to finish this chapter. I have no idea how much is left. My original storyline is gone. You can thank Kim. She's incredibly strong-willed and persuasive for a fictional character. **

**IMPORTANT:I'm planning on writing an Embry/OC one-shot for ****Fandom4Storms**, which is a group who is putting on a fic-compilation fundraiser to benefit victims of the recent natural disasters in the South. Since I'm from that region, the cause is near and dear to my heart. If you want to read mine and other authors' entries, or if you want to contribute a piece of your own literary work, check out my page for the link to their website. The donations go to the American Red Cross, and the minimum is $10. If you'll head over to their site, they'll give you all the deets.

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own Twilight. If I did, I would not be in college, as it is the bane of my existence. (Again. Kidding. Sort of.)**

* * *

I had no way of telling how much longer they'd left us in that God forsaken room after Aro accepted my proposition, but what I did know was how many times my fellow wolf-girls had admonished my actions.

"What the FUCK are you thinking, Kimberly?" Rachel growled, still confined by chains to the hard ground. "You're insane. They call me the crazy imprint, but you've just seen my crazy and raised it to holy fucking deranged."

That was admonishment number thirty-seven. I slumped further into the wall, my arms crossing over my knees as I drew them into my body.

"Kim, Jared will be devastated."

Twelfth time I'd heard that from Emily. It never stopped having an effect on me, though. Of course.

"This is the last time I'm saying this, dude. What else are we going to do? What other solution do we have? None. We have NOTHING else. Unless you have any better ideas, please just leave me here without a fight. Go home. Be safe. Name one of your kids after me. That's the end of it."

"Kim…"

"No, Emily. Think about Claire. Someone has to get her out of here. She's most comfortable with you. And Rachel, no offense, but you aren't really the type to go willingly. It's easier this way."

"I can't believe this schizo idea, Kim. I'd fight tooth and nail to get back to Paul. You're just…shit, you're just giving up."

I straightened immediately at her accusation, bristling.

"You have no idea, Ray. None. You think I want to do this? Hell no, I don't. But I'm doing it. There's no going back. If one of us doesn't do it, all four of us are going to die and we're going to drag the pack down with us, and it might as well be me. Jared isn't too particularly fond of me right now, anyway."

Emily squared her shoulders as much as she could with a sleeping toddler in her arms, and the words that came out of her mouth shocked the hell out of me. I would've expected it from Ray, but not sweet Em.

"So you're just going to leave him high and dry? That's low, Kim. Low. You lied to him! You fucked up, and now you're punishing him! It'll kill him, too, y'know, you dying. He'll die, too. He'll kill himself. Is that what you want?"

"WHAT CHOICE DO I HAVE? It's either me or all of us, and I'm choosing me! The end. Thanks for making me feel like utter shit, though. Thanks a lot."

Going back to my corner of the room, I swiped the back of my hand across my eyes, wiping furiously at the few tears that had gathered in my eyes and were threatening to spill. I refused to be weak. I could do this. I could do this no matter what the Volturi threw at me.

"But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way, Kim," Em said more softly, but still just as sure and confidant. "The boys are probably on their way here right now. They'll come for us. They'll follow the pull here. Paul can feel Rachel. I know that Sam can feel me, and Quil can surely feel Claire because he ran all the way to her house in Makah the first night she went back home after he imprinted. He had no idea where she lived exactly but he found her. He'll find her again. They'll find us."

I noticed that she'd left out Jared. We'd all heard Aro telling me about the thoughts he'd pulled from him, so they knew the Volturi had had contact with him. However, they didn't know that he'd been left badly beaten and unconscious on our porch back in La Push.

But I knew. I sometimes thought that I knew too much. Too much, but never enough. I also knew that I couldn't feel Jared, which could only mean one of two things. One, he wasn't coming, or two, someone here knew more than a little something about imprints and didn't want me to feel him.

Surely the second was impossible. I hoped to God it was.

"We don't know that for sure, Emily. If they come, then awesome. If not, we can't just sit here and do nothing, so I'm going through with this. I have to."

I heard a sob come from the opposite side of the room. Oh lord, now I really was going to cry. If Rachel, Girl Made of All Things Badass, couldn't keep it together, then neither Emily nor myself stood a chance.

I crawled my way over to Ray and sat next to her, letting her rest her battered head on my shoulder as I wrapped an arm around her. Emily came and sat on my other side with Claire, grabbing my left hand and squeezing it tightly.

"I love you, Kim. If it comes down to you having to do this, I'll never be able to repay you, will never be able to thank you enough."

"Just take care of Jared for me, 'kay? Make sure he eats. Guilt him into it, if you have to, Emily. You're good at it, so I have faith in you." We all let out watery laughs. What a soppy, girly chick-flick scene this was becoming. "Make sure my parents are okay. Tell my brother I'm transferring my status as Wes's Godmother to you. Ray will turn him into a hellion, and though Danny really deserves it, I couldn't do that to Tess." Another laugh.

Okay. We'd be okay. I'd be okay. It'd be fine.

I felt the eight of them coming before I heard the footsteps. Leaping to my feet, I hurriedly placed myself in front of the other three.

But then nine stepped into the room…

And, holy shit, did the one I hadn't felt look scary.

Maybe they really did have someone who was like me, as I'd previously guessed, but more powerful. Maybe they'd finally found their ace in the hole, their ticket to universal supernatural hegemony, a way around their intense desire to have the Cullen clan join their ranks. Maybe they had found the holy grail of leeches. Maybe they'd even had it before the big showdown after Christmas. Maybe that had played a factor in their decision to leave without even putting up a fight.

Maybe this was why my grandmother hadn't told me certain things about the coming trial. She hadn't been able to because of this wild card. What if all of the visions she'd had of my life after this were somehow wrong because she hadn't been able to see this particular vamp?

I shuddered at the thought.

All of the possibilities swirled around in my mind. No life with Jared. No residency in Port Angeles. No career. No picket fence. No kids. No nothing.

Maybe I was overreacting. It wasn't unusual for me. Kim the spazz. God, I could only hope that I was just freaking out and none of that was true. There had to be some vamp with an unusual power, I'd felt it, but maybe I was just exaggerating the extent of it.

Regardless, I felt my morale, my courage, my confidence plummet and explode.

Oh, God.

My stomach flipped.

Was I going to throw up before this was all over?

Probably.

Would I survive?

Who knew.

Was I going to take out a few vamps before they killed me, if that ended up being the case?

Hell yeah. I'd ruin this vampire monarchy on my way down. There'd be no pieces to put back together.

"Chelsea, Antonia, take this one to the root cellar," Aro muttered happily, extending a wispy-looking finger towards me to indicate which one of us was to be the guinea pig.

Antonia must be the mystery leech.

They grabbed my arms roughly, jerking me into them as I stumbled at the much-quicker-than-me action.

"Demetri, Alec, and Marcus will be seeing these other lovely ladies to the dining room. There are some special guests there waiting to escort them home."

I hadn't felt them. They were here and I hadn't known.

Now there was no doubt in my mind that someone here could block the wolves' presence from us. I could still feel the vampires, though, so I knew that my cover hadn't been blown. They were just going off the information they'd taken from Jared and being cautious by extending the barrier to every member of the pack, not just the imprinted ones. They were just trying to stay on the good end of the status quo, trying to keep the location of the imprints as secret as possible until they were ready to reveal it. I couldn't fault them for that, I guess.

So how had the pack found us?

I hadn't felt the bonds being manipulated. It couldn't be the one on my right, Chelsea. I'd felt her power when she tried to manipulate the bonds that night in the field when the Volturi had come for Renesmee.

Antonia had to be the variable that was completely different, the variable that changed everything. Someone different and someone much, much more powerful.

Maybe I'd met my downfall.

Insert stomach flipping and nausea. Holy shit.

And then I realized they she couldn't feel me, either. Either she just wasn't looking for them, or my mental blocks were pretty damn subtle.

Well, how about that. Maybe the situation was brighter than I'd begun to anticipate. So far it appeared that we were on a fairly even playing field, aside from my general lack of vampire strength, speed, and agility, of course.

About damn time I made a positive discovery.

It was really hard to keep my face sullen as that particular realization dawned on me, but I managed.

"Emily," I attempted to whisper brokenly. "Tell him I love him. Tell him I'm sorry. So sorry."

Aro laughed, and my head snapped towards his in confusion.

"That's a very sweet request, my dear, but wouldn't you rather tell him in person? He is waiting for you, after all."

Oh, shit.

"Release the barrier, Antonia," Aro said as Emily, Rachel, and Claire were lead from the room.

He hit me like a wrecking ball to the gut. My heart clenched, and I wheezed under the brunt of his emotions as they all flooded into me.

Anguish. Regret. Pain. Unbearable, all-consuming pain.

Unconditional love.

Jared.

* * *

The hallway they led me down was illuminated via a pair of plain, curtained windows. The moon cast an eerie glow over the stone bodies of the leeches pulling me along to what looked like a set of old, rotting wood-plank steps, at least as far as I could tell.

The emotions pouring from my mate, my best friend, my everything only increased in intensity with each step that took me closer to him.

I hadn't anticipated this. I hadn't even thought of the possibility that they may bring him here, put him in front of my face and see what happened when they tortured me, or him, or both.

This was not going to be good.

I didn't dare search out the others. While feeling was something that happened instantaneously, something that I couldn't control, searching was something completely different, required me to push that innate feeling out of my body, and I had no idea of the extent of this Antonia lady's powers. For all I knew, she'd be able to feel me looking for them, and I sure as hell wasn't going to show my cards this early in the game. Surprise was the only thing I knew I had on my side at this point. I wasn't going to sabotage that when I wouldn't be able to do anything to help my pack, anyway.

I sure as hell wasn't expecting to be thrown unceremoniously down the stairs, either, but that's what happened. Hitting what I was pretty sure was every single step on the way down, I landed heavily on my ass, which luckily was big enough to cushion my fall somewhat.

"He can't phase. Don't even put the idea in his head," the mysterious leech yelled down at me as I attempted to roll over onto my knees, groaning and reaching for my throbbing ribs and shoulder.

I barely caught the sound of my name being moaned softly from the other side of the dark room over the slam of the door above me, but I heard it, and I called out to him.

"It's me, Jared."

He sobbed. It was quiet, but it tore at me sharply nonetheless.

"Where are you? Can you move?"

"No." His voice came out as a raspy whisper. What had they done to him?

"Okay. Can you see me?"

"Barely, but yeah. God, you're so beautiful. I'm so sorry, Kim. I love you. I never thought I'd get to say that again. I'm an idiot." A hacking cough interrupted his speech, so I took the opportunity to try and let my eyes adjust. I touched the pocket of my pajama pants in search of my glasses out of habit even though I knew they wouldn't be there.

I really was flying blind here.

"Jared? Jared, I can't see anything. It's too dark and I don't have my glasses, anyway. Can you guide me to you?"

"Yeah. If you walk forward about three steps you'll feel a steel table. Can you stand?"

"I'll try." Taking a deep breath and wincing as my ribs expanded, I stood slowly to the background noise of Jared's cough.

We were living a rough one.

"Okay. Three steps. Now what?"

"Turn to your right and come around to the front of the table. You'll know you're there when you feel a chair. I'm strapped to the other one over here by the wall."

Now it was my turn to turn on the waterworks…again.

"I'm okay, Kimbo. Just bruised. Come on now, come to the front of the table." I did as he said, stumbling a bit on my way. Each time I tripped up, I could hear movement from his general location. Bless his heart, he was still trying to catch me when I was falling, even while chained up and with an unfamiliar force smothering his wolf.

"Okay, good job, babe. Now turn a little bit…yeah, that's it…and walk straight. Just a couple more steps…"

And I found him.

I reached out for his face with my hands, finding it and gently running my fingers over every inch of his features that I could as I straddled his lap.

"Good job, baby girl. See? I'm okay. It's nothing that won't heal when we get out of this mess."

He'd said when, not if, and that's all it took to steel my resolve.

He would get out of her, preferably with me, but either way I'd get him out of here even if I had to focus everything I had on making it happen.

He could move on eventually. I knew he could. Plus, it would be a damned injustice if there were no little Jared's running around La Push someday. It'd be nice, REAL nice if they were little Jared's and Kim's, but I wasn't going to push the envelope yet, not until I could get a better handle on Miss Mysterious and Incredibly Disturbing Leech Whore.

"Are you alright, Kimbo? You aren't hurt too bad, are you?"

"No, just sore. The steps were sturdier than I thought," I said, trying to lighten the situation.

"Ugh, Kim, I'm so sorry…sorry about all of this. If I hadn't run off…"

"If you hadn't run off, they still would've taken us. They have some kind of secret weapon. I don't know what it is yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon, and with that, there's nothing that would've stopped them. Don't blame yourself."

"They found me, though, Kim. They found me in South Dakota. I don't know how, but they did, and he took every thought from my head, every single piece of information about the pack and about the imprint and about…about you…and, God, it's my fault that they know so much. Sam freaked out and Paul and Quil, and the whole pack went berserk. We got a call from the Cullens asking why the hell Aro had given them directions from La Push to Sitka. That's how we found you. I'm so…"

Before he could continue his ranting, I pushed my lips against his, forcing them to move with mine instead of in constant apology for things he couldn't control.

I should've known better than to do that.

Before I could get a handle on myself, lips pressing together turned into pure, unadulterated desperation as he furiously worked his tongue over the inside of my mouth, licked my teeth, sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, all the while pulling against his restraints as I pressed my body as far into him as I could, aching torso be damned.

God, I had missed him.

"Love you, Kim," he murmured into my mouth. "Love you so much. As soon as I get us out of here, I'm gonna show you over and over again."

I just nodded, ignoring what he said about him somehow managing to rescue us and taking the opportunity to dive into his neck, sniffing him and gnawing gently at his pulse point. I felt an ache grow in my belly and I shivered as my mind registered his words about showing me how much he loved me.

"I'm sorry for leaving you like that," he panted. "God, I couldn't get your expression out of my head. That's why I didn't come back sooner. I couldn't face you. I didn't know how to. I was ashamed of myself. I love you. I don't give a shit about any secret you have. Keep whatever you want from me. Just forgive me. Let me love you. God, I love you…"

I pulled my face back to his, pressing our noses together and nodding, then kissing him again, this time more lovingly, and I could feel the relief wash over him.

"You better not ever leave me for anything more than a nine-hour workday or a patrol shift ever again, Talon."

"Promise, Connweller." He smiled that sexy, toothy smile of his: my smile.

"And I promise you're going to find out what I've been keeping from you. I'll tell you everything. Everything I know, everything I don't know. I'll answer any questions you have. I love you. We'll be okay."

He nodded, squishing our noses back together.

"Marry me."

"No, Jared." His face fell, but I couldn't give him the answer he wanted, not with a clear conscience.

"But…"

"Ask me again in a week, and my answer will be different."

He gulped, sighing into my mouth, his breath washing over my face. "Pinky swear?" he whispered, and I laughed.

"Pinky swear."

Once again, I felt them before I heard them. They were still none the wiser to my gift, but I hoped an opportunity to change that would present itself, and soon. I wanted to be home. I wanted this chapter in my life to be over with and done. Hopefully it wouldn't be the end of my story, as well, but either way, I wanted it finished.

I heard a switch being flipped at the top of the stairs after the door creaked open, and I turned to stand in front of Jared. As a light blinked on overhead, I finally saw what they had in store for us.

Vials of clear liquid were lined up neatly next to a bag of syringes on a black velvet pillow.

"What is that?" I whispered to Jared, thinking that he'd be able to smell it and know what it was.

He shook his head. "No idea, Kim."

In the blink of an eye, the vampires I knew to be Aro, Caius, Jane, Felix, Chelsea, and Antonia had slipped down the steps and fallen into a formation behind the two oldest leeches.

Jared stiffened behind me. "Kim, come stand beside me. Now."

"Oh, that won't do." The current bane of my existence had quite the seductive voice. She had an even stronger pull. No sooner than the words had slipped out of her mouth, Antonia had mentally forced my body into the air and slammed it back down in the hard chair next to the table.

Well, fuck.

Jane moved to stand in the space between myself and Jared, who had let out a string of expletives and was struggling to escape the chair, his eyes moving from me to Antonia with a fierce glare fixed on his face.

"Don't you fucking try that ever again, leech. I'll set your sparkly ass on fire."

She laughed, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jane narrow her gaze on Jared.

"NO!" I screamed, trying to move and failing. So the bitch had a good firm grip, too. Now, seeing Jane torture Jared, seeing him writhe and seize manically in his confines, feeling the pain he felt trickle into the very marrow of my bones, I swore that after I disintegrated the half-pint, Antonia would get to see just how firm MY grip was.

I watched Aro come and place a hand on Jane's shoulder, halting her attack, and I felt the pain wafting off of Jared and into me through our bond ease up almost immediately.

"Jared…Jared, look at me!" He groaned, taking in frantic, shallow breaths before finally making eye contact with me.

"Kim…"

"Please don't hurt him," I begged, turning to Aro. "This wasn't part of our bargain, you asshole! You got me in exchange for the pack. LET HIM GO!"

Aro chuckled, and I saw Jared stiffen again.

"Kim, what are you talking about?"

"Your bitch exchanged her life for those of the other imprints," Caius replied with a smirk.

"NO!" I screamed again. "My life for the pack. You wanted to test the imprint bond. That's what you said. You have me. Test me. Let him go."

"Kim…" I looked over at Jared, who was looking back at me like I'd just sprouted wings and a unicorn horn. All I could do was grimace at him. I wouldn't apologize. Not for this.

"Ah, but what kind of information could we obtain if we only test one side of the bond? It will surely be more effective if we utilize both of you. Of this, I am certain. Besides, our negotiations would have only been meaningful if you had brought anything to the table. You brought nothing, and I hold all the cards. You have no bargaining chip, so you should be glad that I let the others go, although I may go back for that feisty imprint and her hostile mate. They are quite the interesting pair."

I narrowed my eyes at him, having no reply because I knew he was right. I had brought nothing to the table because, as far as he knew, I was a weak human, completely at his mercy. But I had a trump card, as long as I could figure out how to neutralize Blondie McBitch over there.

"Now, Kim, if you could be so kind as to place your arm out in front of you…" He hadn't even finished his sentence when Antonia wordlessly, effortlessly flung my arm up to present to him.

"You were wondering what was in these vials, my dear?" he stated more than asked, picking one up and drawing the liquid into a syringe.

Placing the tip of the needle on my forearm, just above the thick vein where every single immunization I'd ever had had been administered to me, he said, "It's a diluted form of vampire venom."

Double fuck.

* * *

**A/N: Yep. Another cliffhanger. School's out for me for the summer, though, and I have FREE TIME even though I'm working. I don't know when I'll have it out, but I've already started writing the next chapter. So far so good. I'm just going to listen to Kimbo and see where she wants to go with this. I've given up...lol. **

**Please R&R. I love knowing what you all think, and your feedback, especially any constructive criticism, is incredibly helpful.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: Sorry this is six months in the making. I'm just as frustrated as you are that it took this long, but real life got ridiculous for a little while. Hope you all enjoy this chapter! There are only a few more left before I'll be wrapping this story up, which is incredibly weird because it's become my baby over the last three years that I've been working on it! **

**~I've posted "Enough," the Embry/OC one-shot that I wrote for the Fandom4Storms fundraising event. If you're interested, it's on my FFN profile, so please check it out!**

**~Would anyone be interesting in beta'ing the last few chapters of "Guardian" for me? I'd just like an extra set of eyes to look over it and another brain to bounce ideas off of and hammer out plot points with. Thanks a bunch! Ya'll are such awesome people. I really appreciate your interest in my story and your feedback. **

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own anything affiliated with the Twilight franchise. **

* * *

_Diluted form of vampire venom._

I have to admit, I sure as hell wasn't expecting that one.

Oh, and did I mention the part where Aro was holding the syringe TO MY VEIN?

I think that's a crucial part to this whole scenario.

Jared's wide eyes met mine, and I'd never seen him look as animalistic as he did in that moment. He was channeling caged tiger pretty efficiently, in my opinion. And then he began to panic, which in turn caused panic to shoot violently through me.

I knew he'd be watching all this happen, but I didn't realize he'd be…y'know…in the same cramped ROOM and everything. I was thinking something along the lines of the two-way mirrors from before, a hole in the wall, possibly even from a television screen…but NOT right in front of me. God, this was going to be difficult. I shoved down the emotions pulsing through me and tried to focus on the tip of the needle barely poking into my arm.

Time to make a list! (A list? God, Kim, what the hell?)

Yes. A list.

Oh great. Talking to myself again. (You pick the WORST times for this, Kimberly!)

First up on the agenda: Pray that Antonia loses focus for, like, TWO seconds. That's all it would take for me to neutralize that pest.

Second on the agenda: Put a protective barrier around myself and Jared, if possible around the rest of the pack upstairs.

Third: Pray that I have enough adrenaline to implode the rest of these leeches simultaneously while somehow managing to NOT accidentally disintegrate any of the previously mentioned pack.

Fourth: There was no fourth.

And that was my list. How spectacular.

"No. No, put that in me. Don't touch her with that shit. DON'T TOUCH HER WITH THAT!" Jared roared murderously, pulling so hard against the steel shackles that the concrete wall behind him shook with his efforts.

"No, don't listen to him. Please, PLEASE let him go!" I needed him out of here not only because of my unwavering desire to protect him, but also because his emotions were wreaking havoc on my mind, creating a chaos up there that was making it really hard to concentrate.

Aro pulled the needle away from me, tossing his head back with delighted laughter. "Unwavering self-sacrifice in the face of the death of a mate—quite a sight." He paced over to Jared, whose form started blurring in his vain effort to phase as Aro ran a finger along his face.

Aro crooked a finger at Jane, who fixed her gaze on Jared again. My heart clenched as I watched his body contort at odd angles under her mental ministrations, but I could do nothing aside from closing my eyes and keeping my mouth shut, lest I make it worse for him. I nearly lost control though as he screamed out, tears running down his face from the pain. I could feel it, too, tried to absorb some of it through our bond, but he pushed against it, trying to block me out.

Jane finally let up on her assault, only for Aro to nod at Felix, who walked casually up to Jared and delivered a punishing blow to his jaw. I heard a sickening crack, and felt an electric shock run through my face as Jared completely lost his ability to keep me from feeling him. He groaned loudly, and as his head lolled back and rolled to his left shoulder I could see that the side of his face had been crushed in.

I felt like throwing up. I could feel Aro's gaze on my face but couldn't look away from the sight of my imprint, couldn't pay attention to anything other than the pain radiating from his body into mine. Everything went still for what seemed like an eternity as I listened to the rush of my heartbeat in my ears mixed with the steady trickling of Jared's blood onto the concrete floor. Right before my eyes, his face healed back incorrectly, leaving his cheek sunken in and his jaw lopsided, and he finally looked up at me, once again able to diminish our bond, allowing me to gain some sense of composure.

Chelsea, the one with the ability to manipulate loyalty, came to stand in the gap between myself and Jared. I could feel her probing at me, could feel the familiar tugging at my heartstrings, but it felt like a faint whisper compared to what Jared had done the night he left me. Her face fell, and as Aro chuckled again, Jared surged feelings of love and comfort towards me, causing me to take a deep breath as he managed a shadow of a smile in my direction. Chelsea took notice and once again invaded our bond, attempting to strengthen and diminish it, but it was resolute and she was unable to alter it any more than a slight pull.

"Their bodies are still too strong, Aro. It's making it difficult to manipulate their emotions."

"The wolf is too strong, Aro," Felix grumbled. "It must be her body that we break before we can see the true nature of their bond, of the bonds of the pack."

Aro clicked his tongue and tapped the tips of his fingers together before folding them under his chin, looking pensive. "It is such a shame that we must take these harsh measures, but the Volturi cannot simply ignore the threat posed by the unknown." He turned to me. "Wouldn't you agree, young one? Your wolves kill our kind because it threatens their imprints, their family, their tribe. If we cannot understand these bonds, and if we cannot perform the experiments necessary to such understanding, mustn't we utilize every means possible to ensure the safety of our species, our fellow kinsmen— or at least most of them— who look to us for protection and leadership?"

Reading between the lines of his nauseatingly cheerful monologue, I suddenly understood what I hadn't before. The pack had helped the Cullens because of Renesmee, an imprint, which led Aro to believe that that's where their allegiance lied, but they couldn't understand the bond. They couldn't understand what tied them together, and were attempting to figure out how to destroy the bond. The Volturi couldn't get away with what would appear to be an unwarranted attack on the Cullen family, but they would be able to spin an attack on us as taking out a threat to the vampire world. Taking out the pack would, in Aro's mind, weaken the Cullens.

This was bullshit.

Aro was still looking to me for an answer, so I gave him one. I hocked a loogie right onto his expensive leather shoe.

With another painful jerk and a momentary loss of consciousness, I found myself laying on the table where the venom had been set up and looking up into Caius's hateful face, a sneer curling his mouth. "You will regret that, you filthy girl. I usually have no time for humans but I will take great pleasure in causing the despair of your so-called family with your death."

Aro put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from me with little effort. "Not yet, Caius. She'll be of no use to us at the moment if she isn't alive."

Jared snarled. I cringed as they moved me into a sitting position. Jane sent acute pain rushing through my body and I went blind. My body seized up and I slumped over when she let up for a moment, only to go ramrod straight when she sent another wave rocketing my way.

As soon as she finally backed off completely, I had mere seconds of reprieve before my arm suddenly rose into the air; Antonia's doing, without a doubt. I felt a tiny prick on the inside of my elbow and my arm began to burn. I looked down to realize that Aro had injected me with the full contents of the syringe. It didn't feel quite like it was on fire; not how I'd heard it felt like when one was turning into a vampire (and I didn't think that was even genetically possibly for me as a Guardian), but it was just a hot enough sensation to make me cringe sharply.

Jared roared murderously. Again.

Jane smiled cruelly. Again.

Antonia laughed.

And I had her. I felt my arm drop slightly, a sign of her concentration slipping.

Game on, Kimbo.

Smiling through the inferno that had started to lick mercilessly at me from the inside out, I whipped around, dropped my shield, and I struck.

Only nothing happened.

She had a shield of her own up.

Shit.

More of my arm started to burn, and whatever confused look I had on my face was mirrored on Antonia's as I felt her probing into me. She no doubt had felt me try to break into the shield she'd created around herself.

Shit.

"What…what ARE you?"

Oh shit.

Aro looked between the two of us then grabbed my hand before I had time to even blink.

SHIT.

I didn't have time to put up a fresh barrier, wouldn't have had time even if I hadn't been in such pain, and in my mind I saw the last ten seconds rush by in a haze. Aro had no doubt seen the same things.

"Ah, someone's been hiding a talent, I see!"

Well, guess I could nix goal one off of my list, possibly goal three, as well.

I looked to Jared who'd gone stock still, staring at me with both fear and wariness in his eyes, and then I turned my gaze back to Aro. All the while the venom continued to eat its way through me at a sluggish pace.

"Let's have a little look-see, shall we?" He nodded at my elbow. "Push it out, Kimberly."

"What is he talking about, Kim?"

I felt a cold hand clamp over my mouth, making it impossible for me to respond with anything aside from awkward mumbles and spittle.

"Do as Aro says, little human," I heard Caius whisper into my ear, spraying venom onto the side of my face.

I felt my arm being lifted back up, this time by a cold hand rather than an invisible entity. I turned my eyes upward to look into Aro's, which only showed curiosity.

Looking back at the spot where the poisonous fluid had been inserted into my body, I shook my head, trying to pretend like I had no idea what they were talking about.

That wasn't going to fly, though. That much became painfully obvious when Caius removed his hand from my mouth long enough to slap me across the face.

Jared roared. The concrete wall shook again. Jane laughed.

"Push it out, little human. Now."

And I had no choice. Not at the moment. Not when I was going into sensory overload from the frazzled werewolf across from me and the burning venom coursing through my system.

I stared at Jared, who dropped his eyes from mine to stare at the now bruising puncture wound on my elbow.

Feeling the adrenaline slowly build up, I was able to separate the venom from my blood. I peeked down at my arm long enough to see the vein that the venom had gathered in start to roll eerily with my efforts, momentarily turning black as the venom made its way back toward the tiny hole that had been its point of entry.

Once I had it oozing down my forearm I looked at Jared, who couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the sight.

Gah, think, Kim, THINK. Time to rely on instinct. My ancestors had been utilizing their powers for centuries. Surely there had to be SOMETHING innate in this body that could help me out, right?

I was going to have a seriously long talk with my grandmother when I died, which very may well occur in, oh, the next five minutes, maybe less.

I shut down my mind to my irreverent thoughts as best as I could then flew up from my seat, forcing Aro away from me with a short burst of energy and moving in front of Jared, locking a shield in place around us.

Antonia flew across the table towards me but was unable to break through the protective barrier. If I could just take her out, the wolves would be free to phase. As six vampires rushed towards us, each flinging their own auras and physical strength against me, I zoned in on the only vampire in the building who would pose a threat to my dominance over them, and I threw every bit of energy I had at her.

Our shields collided and exploded outward, knocking the vampires outside of the invisible bubble we'd created into the walls of the basement. With all her concentration focused on me, Jared was able to phase behind me, strengthening me despite his palpable confusion and giving me the energy to push harder against Antonia. I could feel Chelsea trying to reach into the shield, no doubt trying to rip apart Jared and I, and seconds later I could feel Jane's satanic sibling pushing at it to no avail. The air around us was becoming visibly distorted with our efforts, and I began trying to walk towards her, trying to summon a surge of energy so I could knock her off balance and tighten my grip on her. Jared, by the grace of whatever angel was smiling down upon me, somehow knew what I needed, and despite everything, put his forehead between my shoulder blades and nudged, silently encouraging me to brace myself against him as he slowly began to walk forward.

I could feel my ribs pulsating from my earlier fall, my face stinging from the impact of Caius's hand, my insides still quivering from the assault by Jane, Jared's pain in his face and the soreness of both our bodies, but I kept pushing, kept telling myself _'just a little more, just a little farther, just a little more energy and you'll have it.'_

My shield was stronger, my energy was brighter, but she was diamond-hard while I was not. I breathed. I bled. I bruised. My body was malleable. She was none of those things. She was inhumanly fast and strong, and I was just Kim plus an extra ability and a stout werewolf at my back.

But could I use that to my advantage? I suddenly imagined myself pulling a Bella Swan, and though I had to suppress the urge to laugh at such a disturbing and ridiculous image, I could not ignore the merit in slicing myself open to create a feeding frenzy.

That could work, right? I knew that these were old vampires, that the smell of blood didn't affect them as much, but all my previous plans had flown right out the window so it was all I had to go on. It HAD to work. I had to hope that them being holed up in this building with us humans for however long we'd been here had taken a toll on their self-control.

My mind working furiously, I screamed behind me, knowing the leeches wouldn't be able to hear me through my shield. "Bite me, Jared! You have to bite me!" He huffed and shook his head adamantly, increasing the pressure of his muzzle on my back.

"TRUST ME, Jared! PLEASE! BITE ME!"

He whined as I built up more energy, preparing physically and mentally as best as I could for the impending, painful distraction.

"Now, Jared! NOW! I don't know how much longer I can hold this! We've got to do something NOW!"

He growled and tensed behind me, and I sent the most intense wave of anger through our bond that I could muster, trying to goad him into action. He growled again, but raised his paw until it was resting on the side of my hip and dug three nails deep into my skin, dragging it around from the front of my left hip to the back.

The stinging was intense, but nothing like I'd experienced earlier with Jane. I relaxed my mood to try to calm him, and it seemed to work until blood started to soak my shirt and seep down into the band of my pants, at which point he started whining continuously and nuzzling my back.

"I've gotta drop my shield now, Jared, otherwise they won't be able to smell me. You'll only have to cover me on my left side since they can't get through the shield to get to my right." He nodded his head quickly.

"If I think I won't be able to take her out and survive, I'm taking her down with me and you'll have to—"

He interrupted me with a harsh bark, and I could feel desperation seeping into the air between us. "No, Jared! The only chance you and the pack have to make it out of here intact is if she's gone. If she lives, none of us do. It's the only way."

Jared moved his head from its position in my back to rest on my shoulder, and I was able to look in one of his beautiful massive eyes for a moment before I felt a ripple surge through the shield, pulling my attention back to the vampire standing a few yards from me.

Jared licked the side of my face and all I could convince myself to say was, "I'm sorry, Jared. So sorry. I love you."

He sniffed at my hair and then turned to flank my left side without another sound, crouching down in a defensive position that blocked the entirety of my body from the vampire coven.

Separating the shield that surrounded us from the energy I was forcing at Antonia, I dropped the former as soon as I had a firm enough hold on the latter.

The next few moments went by so quickly after that they all blurred together. So much of my blood had been either absorbed into my clothes or had puddled onto the floor that it only took a few seconds after I dropped my shield for it to start affecting the Volturi, even the ones upstairs. Antonia tried incredibly hard to hang on, almost overtaking me at one point, but as soon as her eyes dilated I knew I had her.

I pushed her back into the table and she stumbled. Seizing the opportunity, I imploded her with her own energy, pushing the bubble she'd created back into her and pulling my own back into myself to strengthen it and send it into Felix and Caius, who Jared was barely managing to fend off.

Setting the shield back up around Jared and myself, I went to search out the location of everyone else in the house only to survey the room and find it unnecessary. Every member of the Volturi coven was in the basement, along with Sam, Paul, and Seth, who had managed to phase, and Embry and Travis who stood on the stairs in human form, waiting for their turn to fight. Even without superhuman hearing, I could hear the rest of the pack moving around upstairs, listening for any sign of trouble that would warrant them intervening.

Every pair of eyes in the room was trained on me, and only Aro had the audacity to step forward. "Kimberly, what a pleasant surprise! I never imagined that a human could ever have such a gift! You must tell me, pretty little thing, how you do—"

"Shut the fuck up," I spat. He inched closer, this time with Caius and Jane on his heels. Jared put himself directly in front of me, limping, I noticed. As his hackles raised and he bared his teeth, the other three members of the pack in wolf form spread out behind the vampires to form a semi-circle, ready to attack.

"But Kimberly, surely we could come to some kind of understanding." He continued to smile even as my gaze on him hardened. "You have so much power, young one. Imagine the potential! It could be limitless, Kimberly. You could—"

"You have no bargaining chip, Aro. We hold the cards, now. There's nothing to keep the wolves from phasing and there's nothing to keep me from obliterating you." As I spoke, the pounding in my head became nauseating. I'd never pushed myself this hard or produced this much energy and adrenaline before in my life. I was exhausted, but I willed myself to ignore it.

His smile fell and he snarled at me. His Guard moved to surround him and his brothers, and as soon as Jane stepped in front of him, I stepped around Jared and looked her in the eyes with a malicious glint in my own.

"I'm going to kill you," I said matter-of-factly. She hissed and made to lunge at me, but before she could I ripped her head from her body.

Aro shrunk back, staring at me with his mouth open slightly, a look of horror briefly flitting across his features before a stony façade replaced it.

Glancing at the wolves, I could see them looking at me just as warily. I would have a lot of explaining to do to my pack and my tribe once this was all over, but I had bigger fish to fry, or rather, leeches to burn.

I started to summon up all of my adrenaline to take out as many of the coven as I could in one big sweep, but went light-headed and stumbled into Jared.

Angry, advancing vampires, Jared's warm arms encircling me, and the sounds of jaws snapping and rocks being wrenched apart were the last things I was aware of before blacking out.

* * *

**A/N: Hope it was worth the ridiculously long wait. Please review with and let me know what you thought. Constructive criticism is appreciated!**

**~jenniemae**


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N: I am so happy to finally present chapter 22 to you all! Thanks so much to all of you still sticking with this story. It has been my baby for several years now, and in this chapter is the scene that started it all; the scene that planted this little plot in my head and kept growing and growing until I couldn't ignore it anymore. Any guesses which one it is? :) As always, please let me know what you thought! Constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated. And again, thanks so much for being patient with me. I appreciate it more than you can imagine!**

**Disclaimer: I'm still not Stephanie Meyer. I still don't own the Twilight Franchise. **

* * *

_Every pair of eyes in the room was trained on me, and only Aro had the audacity to step forward. "Kimberly, what a pleasant surprise! I never imagined that a human could ever have such a gift! You must tell me, pretty little thing, how you do—"_

_"Shut the fuck up," I spat. He inched closer, this time with Caius and Jane on his heels. Jared put himself directly in front of me; limping, I noticed. As his hackles raised and he bared his teeth, the other three members of the pack in wolf form spread out behind the vampires to form a semi-circle, ready to attack._

_"But Kimberly, surely we could come to some kind of understanding." He continued to smile even as my gaze on him hardened. "You have so much power, young one. Imagine the potential! It could be limitless, Kimberly. You could—"_

_"You have no bargaining chip, Aro. We hold the cards, now. There's nothing to keep the wolves from phasing and there's nothing to keep me from obliterating you." As I spoke, the pounding in my head became nauseating. I'd never pushed myself this hard or produced this much energy and adrenaline before in my life. I was exhausted, but I willed myself to ignore it._

_His smile fell and he snarled at me. His Guard moved to surround him and his brothers, and as soon as Jane stepped in front of him, I stepped around Jared and looked her in the eyes with a malicious glint in my own._

_"I'm going to kill you," I said matter-of-factly. She hissed and made to lunge at me, but before she could I ripped her head from her body._

_Aro shrunk back, staring at me with his mouth open slightly, a look of horror briefly flitting across his features before a stony façade replaced it._

_Glancing at the wolves, I could see them looking at me just as warily. I would have a lot of explaining to do to my pack and my tribe once this was all over, but I had bigger fish to fry, or rather, leeches to burn._

_I started to summon up all of my adrenaline to take out as many of the coven as I could in one big sweep, but went light-headed and stumbled into Jared._

_Angry, advancing vampires, Jared's warm arms encircling me, and the sounds of jaws snapping and rocks being wrenched apart were the last things I was aware of before blacking out._

* * *

When you're young, the worldis full of possibilities. The fairy tales are still reality (although occasionally werewolves and vampires live on into your adulthood). All of your dreams are still achievable. The world is mostly a good and happy place and your life isn't interrupted by malevolence, greed, and apathy. You care about people and things with a childish fervor. You're curious, interested, invested in the life that's going on around you. There's no "taking time to smell the roses" because you spend all your time with your nose stuck in them. You're innocent. You're guarded from the harsh reality that exists outside of your dinosaur or princess themed bedroom.

Eventually you start to grow, though. You begin to understand that life isn't always a nice thing. Through experience you learn that sometimes things are black and white, but mostly there are shades of gray that you have to muddle your way around in. There are highs. You get an A in a difficult class or your hot middle school crush finally starts noticing you. There are lows. You hurt a good friend or someone embarrasses you. You learn to fit into society; to compartmentalize personalities, behaviors, attire, and emotions for the appropriate times and places and people. You eventually come to understand value and integrity and white lies and morality, and also that these things don't always go together in conventional ways. You learn fear, hope, joy, sorrow. You at times become confused trying to sort through feelings while still taking others into consideration.

There are moments of clarity, though. Little spots of contentment as you move past teenage angst and familial problems and high school drama. Moments when you just innately know the right choice or the right path or the right thing to say. Moments when you stop over thinking and just exist in that happy place you were in as a child as everything clicks right into place in your head. Moments where you know of the evils of the world, but still believe in its overpowering goodness.

Moments like the first time I kissed Jared. Discussions with my grandmother about the Guardian legends that were privileged information up until this point. The pack bonfires after the legends had been told and the fire had burned down to glowing embers. The look in his eyes the night Jared told me he knew I was it for him from the moment he saw me heading towards my Jeep that first day back to school after his first weeks as a shifter.

I had more experience than I cared to in dichotomizing myself. The whole Fake Kim/Real Kim had been a difficult, exasperating burden that I had come to terms with. Now, though, I looked back and realized that it hadn't really been all that necessary. I guess everyone, though, even those who are normal, whatever 'normal' means, looks back prior to where they are now and questions the ways in which they compromised themselves just to fit in; how they continue to compromise themselves. Hindsight is, as they say, always twenty-twenty. Hell, I had a clairvoyant for a grandmother and hindsight still bit me in the ass.

As my head slammed against the concrete slab of the basement just as warm arms were a millisecond too late in catching me, Real Kim, the only one that mattered and the only one that would survive past this night (if either of us made it), had another one of those moments of clarity. It was brief, too brief to fully remember but too long to ever be able to forget. My eyes locked on Aro's fear-filled gaze, a look I'm sure had rarely if ever crossed his face. Aside from satiating my thirst for vengeance for what he and his coven had tried to do to my pack, his panic assured me that everything would be okay. It meant that I had kept my imprint safe. I had kept my family safe. In the process, I had managed to become the catalyst for the downfall of the Volturi Empire. If death, either by head injury or exhaustion or as a result of a potent mix of the two, was waiting for me at the end of this fall, then I would greet it bittersweetly.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of calm ocean swells and the light crashing of brisk waves as they met shore. I could feel ice cold water lapping at my toes and the grittiness of tiny shells and pebbles rubbing into my face and arms. Taking a deep breath of salty air, I squinted an eye open to take in my surroundings to the left and right of me, slowly pushing myself up out of the surf and onto my knees.

"Hello, my beautiful Kimberly."

My head snapped to the where the sound had come from: a very familiar voice directly in front of me.

"Grandma?" I blinked a few times, unable to fully believe that this was happening. "Am I…am I dead?"

She laughed at this. "No child, you're not dead. This is more of an…in-between, of sorts."

"Is this the part where you tell me that we're in my head and that I have a choice to either get on the train or to go back and continue fighting?"

She looked at me funnily, clearly not getting my shameless Harry Potter reference. "No, Kim. There's no choice here. You'll go back. You must go back. If you do not, the Guardian line dies with you."

Nodding at the seriousness in her tone, I stood and walked over to where she was standing, drinking in her presence that I'd so longed to be in since she was taken from me. The slight breeze blew her long gray hair around her shoulders, and the traditional shredded cedar bark skirt she wore teased her ankles. She was glowing, something I hadn't seen her do in the year or so prior to her death. The closer I got, the bigger her smile and the wider she opened her arms for me. Once I reached her, I clung to her, taking in the musky scent of her clothing and hair. Just the way I remembered.

"You've shown great strength this night, my little liyá-t'." Her little otter, a totem symbol that represented inquisitiveness and intelligence in many of the Northwest Indian tribes. We both smiled at the nickname she'd given me after we had discovered my enthusiasm for learning. Oh, how I'd missed that. "You've grown so much. I'm so proud." She smiled softly at me, holding me at arms' length to look me over.

I reluctantly pulled away, understanding that this would probably be the last time I'd get to see her, at least for quite some time.

"Grandma-"

"You have to ask the right questions, Kim," she interrupted, pulling away and tugging me down to sit next to her in the sand, both of us staring out at the ocean swells. "We don't have much time until the sun sets here, at which point you must return."

I nodded silently, as what had been haunting me for years now moved its way to the forefront of my mind. "Why me?"

She laughed. "Kim, you know I can't answer that definitively. No one can fully understand why the Spirits do what they do."

"No, what I mean is, why was there no other way than to inevitably reveal myself? And why am I the only Guardian to be imprinted upon? I know why we keep our secret so tight to the chest. I understand that the best weapon is the one your enemy doesn't know about. But why now? Why not with any of the others?"

She hesitated, which was unusual for her. "I'm going to tell you something that I was reluctant to tell you until now, liyá-t'. I saw your imprint very clearly, but I couldn't see whether you were able to keep your secret, and it concerned me greatly. Imprinting is the single strongest bond that exists for our people, Kim, and I knew that it could potentially become a hardship for you to be in such a relationship bearing this enormous weight. And you know that no Guardian has ever revealed herself, not since the first one followed Taha Aki into the Spirit world in an attempt to help him, and was rewarded with her powers as a gift for her sacrifice. I sought out our ancestors, Kim, and though I wasn't expecting it, I was given a response in one of my dreams. I was told that you would be the one to expose us, Kim, and that it was meant to be that way for more than one reason. I don't know for sure, but I assume that not only does it make for a formidable addition to the pack and a deterrent to our enemies, but your imprint will potentially strengthen the pack and the Guardian line if you end up meshing them into one."

"Meshing it…you mean, if Jared and I have…children."

"Yes, Kim, if you have children." I blushed, redness blooming up my neck and cheeks as she chuckled.

Seriously, though, who wants to even remotely broach that subject with their grandma? Not me.

"I asked why, if this endangerment of the imprints of the pack was inevitable," she continued, "why I couldn't go ahead and reveal to the council what was going on. I believed that as a respected elder of our community, if I broached the topic first it would make it easier on you; believed that I could prevent the situation and you could lead a more normal life. You were only seven at the time, for heaven's sake. But I was told that if I attempted to do this, you wouldn't stand a chance at surviving what was coming. You would have no hope for victory if I interfered. The occurrence in Alaska would happen, regardless of the actions I did or did not take. The blood-eyed Cold Ones needed to be taught a lesson, needed to be removed from power, the Spirit said, and the only way to do that was through you. Plus, times are changing, Kim. Alliances are no longer based on history or tribe or even species. The modern world is full of possibilities and opportunities like never before. Who knows, maybe you'll help shape the next group of authority that will emerge within the supernatural world."

"I think I've had more than enough of the supernatural world, Gran."

I turned my head to where I was sifting sand through my fingers, watching the tiny grains fall from my grasp and pool back together as I let everything sink in. I looked to see the sun barely peeking over the horizon as it took a few extra minutes in bidding our little corner of the world goodbye.

"I can see one last question hidden behind those eyes, my dear," she said, a smile in her voice.

"I know this one seems trivial in comparison, but when I go back, will Jared leave me?"

She looked at me funnily. "You know something, Kimmy? I've never been able to see past you blacking out after removing the most formidable vampires: the ones the pack wouldn't have been able to defeat without you."

I'm pretty sure my eyebrows blended into my hairline as my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You…you can't…but I thought you said…"

"I said I could see the two of you, imprinted and happy together. I didn't say when." She shook her head and snorted, blowing out a laughing breath. "But it doesn't take any special gift to know that that boy is ass over kettle for you. He'll be angry for at least a few minutes; that is, after he calms down when he realizes he hasn't lost you."

"Yeah. He's probably going insane right now. I would be if the shoe was on the other foot."

I looked at her thoughtfully for a minute, one last thing on the tip of my tongue. "Why do you think you can't see my future?"

With a sigh, she stood, and I did the same, turning to face her and take her hands in mine again. "I think it's because you formally reveal the Guardian legend to the council. It's unprecedented. I don't think my gift was created to accommodate the drastic change of protocol," she smirked.

I guess I had given Antonia too much credit, then.

Gran's face became solemn once again, though, and she pulled me tightly to her. "I won't say goodbye. I've always hated that. So I'll tell you good luck, my liyá-t'. Good luck, and I love you."

"I love you too, Gran. So much."

She pulled away with tears in her eyes, yet with a smile on her face. "Till we meet again, Kimmy." And with that, she turned and walked into the woods, never looking back.

I watched her until her retreating form disappeared completely into the trees, absentmindedly fiddling with the silver ring on my finger.

Wiping away the few tears that had trailed down my face at having to part ways from my grandmother once again, I plopped back down on the sand, wondering how I was supposed to get back to…wherever. Laying on my back with a huff, I closed my eyes and felt the cool night wind rushing past my face.

"KIM!"

Hearing someone shout my name, I tried to sit up abruptly, but found that I couldn't. I had been strapped to some kind of hard plastic board thing, and my neck had been secured with a brace.

"Oh, God, Carlisle, is she going to be okay?" I would know that voice anywhere, even as distorted and muddled as it was now.

Squinting open my eyes but still unable to see anything clearly due to my lack of spectacles, I could make out several figures hovering over me. It didn't take long for my eyes to find Jared's familiar form directly to my left, though, and I sighed quietly in relief.

"No! No! Stop touching me! I'm fine! I don't give a shit about my face. I'm NOT leaving Kim again. I'm NOT."

Another familiar voice cut through the commotion but I couldn't distinguish who it was, and what they were saying sounded all jumbled together to me. My hearing was impervious to anyone's voice but Jared's, it seemed, despite the fact that he sounded like he had a swollen tongue and a lisp.

Go figure. Ugh. Sappy Kim.

"I don't give a shit about my ribs either! I'm not fucking leaving her. End of discussion."

Opening my eyes further, I glanced straight up to see Paul at the head of the stretcher. He raised an eyebrow at me upon noticing that I was awake.

"Well hey there, Princess Kimmy!" He winked as Jared completely freaked out, leaning down to get in my face and all up in my personal business and peppering kisses all over my face. At this proximity, I could see the blood that had coagulated on his face and the sunken portion of his jaw from the big vampire's hefty blow.

"KIM! Thank God, Kim. Thank God. I didn't think you were gonna wake up. I never thought I'd see you again or hold you again or kiss you again or tell you how sorry I am or tell you how much I freaking LOVE you again. I thought…"

"Jared," I whispered, my desert-like throat only allowing a quiet whisper to escape.

"Yes, baby?"

"I'm sorry. I love you."

"Oh, Kimbo. " He grabbed my left hand, holding onto it for dear life and openly crying, not caring that his entire pack was bearing witness to his break down or that he was drowning me in salty tears.

"Love you, Kimbo. Love you, love you, love you."

With some difficulty, seeing as my face had been smushed due to my oh-so-graceful swan dive into the concrete, I smiled up at him as I felt myself being lifted into some kind of vehicle and the board underneath me secured into place. Jared hopped in next to me, never loosing his grip on me, with one of the Cullens (who'd apparently arrived just as their usefulness had vanished with Jane and Antonia's demise) right on his heels.

He smiled back just as awkwardly, his lopsided grin much more lopsided that usual and the other side of his face swollen and slanted grotesquely.

And he was still so unbelievably super freaking hot. Damn it all.

"Jared, Kim is stable. She's going to be fine. I've already dressed her wounds and established that she isn't concussed. Now, let me reset your jaw."

His eyes never left mine as he responded to the vamp. "Later, Carlisle."

I raised my eyebrow at him and nodded as best as I could with my head trapped the way it was.

Jared huffed, but complied, letting Carlisle take his face into his grasp. His hand left mine briefly and I saw him grab the seat underneath him. As the good Dr. Fang pushed his hands in opposite directions, taking Jared's mandible with them, I heard a loud, crunchy-popping noise followed by a string of colorful profanities that would have put Rachel to shame.

Speaking of…

"Is everyone else okay?" Damn whispery voice bullshit.

"They're fine, baby," Jared slurred out, his jaw temporarily immobile after being hinged properly again. "They're all okay."

I breathed a sigh of relief, closing my eyes and relishing in the calm that I was finally able to let wash over me, even if it didn't last long.

And it certainly didn't…

* * *

**A/N: I won't leave you hanging on this cliff too much longer. The next chapter is finished and ready to be posted next week. Let me know what you think! As always, thanks so much for reading and for your continued support despite the lack of updates. You all are wonderful. **

**~Jennie Mae**


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